# The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 - Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=67785[/img] 
*Title: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2* 

*Movie:* :3.5stars:
*Video:* :4stars:
*Audio:* :5stars:
*Extras:* :4stars: 

*HTS Overall Score:*85



[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=67793[/img]*Summary*
When “The Hunger Games” came out I honestly never expected it to do NEARLY as well as it has in the public eye, as it was adapted from a young adult book back when young adult series were not slathered across the screen every summer. I enjoyed the film but wasn’t really THAT into the series until the near perfect “Catching Fire” sequel came out the next year. That’s when I kicked into full gear excitement levels and was eagerly anticipating the conclusion with “Mockingjay”. However it seems that the “Harry Potter” phenomenon of splitting one book into TWO films had caught the studio executives by the ear lobe and dollar signs were floating in front of them. In fact it seems that just about EVERY young adult series has adopted that particular method of dealing with the final chapter in a series and the trend has been overdone to death. In fact with the “Divergent” series taking such a beating for doing the same thing you can tell that the trend has definitely worn past its welcome, and the splitting of a single novel into two films just has stretched creative minds past the breaking point. “Mockingjay Part 2” isn’t as weak as other series that have tried this approach, but you can definitely tell the padding that was undergone in Part 1, and the same thing has come across into the sequel in an effort to make it as epic as possible. 

I’ll try to be as spoiler free as possible, but some plot points from previous films HAVE to be mentioned, so if you haven’t seen part 1, then it might be a good idea to skip down to the technical portion. 

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are now in the hands of the rebel alliance….errr, rebel forces, with Katniss under heavy wounds from Peeta’s brutal attack on her due to the mental conditioning and brainwashing done to him by the capital. After being nearly killed by President Snows forces, Katniss is seen as a risen hero, and one that is now tired of all the fighting, all the killing and all suffering on both sides of the war. Fed up with her role as glorified cheerleader, the “Mockingjay” gathers forth a plan to take out President Snow once and for all. This time personally. Getting drafted into a special unit of soldiers whose main job is to basically look good and create propaganda films as they invade the capital, Katniss uses the seemingly worthless job to her advantage, creating just the proper opportunity for her rise to power in the unit and lead them straight for the heart of the capital. President Snow’s mansion.

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=67801[/img]
However, things are not going to be easy, as Snow has seen the advance of the rebels for quite some time and has booby trapped the entire city with all sorts of nasty creations from the game master. As mentioned in the film, he makes it into yet another Hunger Games. A trial by fire. This is really where the movie starts to crumble and the padding come to light. The first half of the movie is a slow and steadily paced advance towards the final conflict, but we’re left with over an hour left on the clock, meaning that there is going to be a LOT of action, or a lot of filler to keep us busy until the inevitable showdown with President Snow. Sadly there is much more filler in the last act or so of the film than I really would have liked , besides the inclusion of a couple really cool battle sequences including a sewer encounter with some creatures that almost turned the movie into a horror flick. 

I have to say that this was the most disappointing movie of the entire series. Not because it was the WORST movie of the series, but because it actually disappointed me so much in comparison to my expectations. “Mockingjay Part 1” was a bit sluggish and bloated, but I attributed that to setting up the final movie where we would see an epic attack upon the capital city (I’ve never read the books sadly enough). Instead the same slow pace and lack of action keeps the movie dragging deeper and deeper down the rabbit holes, especially since they had the bright idea of ADDING another 15 minutes of runtime to the film compared to Part 1. The first half of “Mockingjay Part 2” is just as slow and methodical as Part 1, but even when the second half kicks up there really isn’t a whole lot to do. Those couple of battles are over in minutes and there is whole chunks of time where everyone is sitting around doing nothing while we wait for the last 15 minutes where a ton of information is just packed into a short burst of time. The ending “battle” at Snow’s gate is over in a matter of seconds and then we have the final subplot with rebel leader, Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) that could have used up a goodly amount of that down time we had earlier in the film to flesh out.

Acting wise, this one is just as good as any of the others. Jennifer Lawrence has really taken the role of Katniss Everdeen as her own and made it something special. The same thing can be said with Josh Hutcherson and Peeta. The only complaint I have this time around is they REALLY overdid the unnecessary love triangle between Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and the two of them, as it was something the book didn’t focus on as much, at least in the “you must choose!” sense. The rest of the cast are old familiar friends, with even Phillip Seymour Hoffman coming in for a bit as his scenes were pretty much filmed before his death a year or so ago. 




*Rating:* 

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and for some thematic material



*Video* :4stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=67809[/img]Coming with a 2.39:1 AVC encoded image from Arri Alexa digital cameras, “Mockingjay Part 2” is a solid entry into “The Hunger Games” universe, but sadly it’s not AS perfect as some of the others have been. That’s mostly due to the fact that the movie is bathed in darkness for a goodly amount of the running time where the soldiers sit in utter blackness talking. There is very little detail to be seen in those shots as the blacks are a tad crushed and sometimes show some washed out tones to them due to the blue color grading that dominates most of the picture. However, when the film enters into the brightly lit world of the capital daylight things pop off the screen with brilliant whites, wonderful black levels and amazing color saturation (just look at Katniss’s lips). Fine detail abounds in those sequences and the image looks noticeably sharper. I didn’t notice any excessive banding like the last film, but it did pop up once or twice, but was usually only noticeable on really fast motion shots. 








*Audio* :5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=67817[/img]The one thing that has remained constant throughout the film franchise is EXCELLENT audio tracks. Just like Part 1, Part 2 is given a Dolby Atmos audio track (Dolby TrueHD if you’re receiver isn’t Atmos capable just yet) that really sparkles and shines with perfection. Vocals are clean and precise, with a heavy presence in the center of the front sound stage. The dynamic range is wide, but not excessive, as the sounds of the battle echo from all corners of the room. Sometimes sounding soft and subdued as Katniss and Peeta whisper in the dark, only to explode into action as a pod goes off, with devastation and ferocity in its wake. The surround channels are awash with all sorts of activity with pinpoint precision and accuracy. Each sound is distinct and precise, making a very active and immersive experience. The rattling of a machine gun firing sounds crisp and clear without bloated LFE, and boots falling on concrete each make their own distinct and unique sound no matter which portion of the sound stage they are on. LFE is tight and powerful, adding low end support in the background when needed, but also punching you in the face during a heated encounter. Basically, another “Hunger Games” perfect track. 











*Extras* :4stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=67825[/img]
• Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson
• Pawns No More: The Making of "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2"
• The Hunger Games: A Photographic Journey 
• Cinna's Sketchbook: Secrets of the Mockingjay Armor 
• Panem on Display: The Hunger Games: The Exhibition
• Jet to the Set 







*Overall:* :4stars:

“The Hunger Games” finally comes to a conclusion with an ever so slightly worn out feel to it. The series feels like a roller coaster ride, with the series starting out pretty decent, and then peaking with “Catching Fire”, only to kind of bump along to a stop with the obviously stretched thing 2 parter “Mockingjay”. While “Mockingjay Part 2” is a weak link in the series, tying the first movie in the series for being a bit sluggish, it’s still a fun watch and a solid ending to the franchise. The one thing that I hope comes from this whole ordeal is that studios finally start backing away from the fad of splitting up books into two movies just to get a little more box office revenue and start making them a bit more concise. Solid watch. 


*Additional Information:*

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Written by: Peter Craig, Danny Strong
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core), English DD 2.0
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 137 Minutes 
Blu-ray Release Date: March 22nd 2016


*Buy The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 On Blu-ray at Amazon*




*Recommendation: Recommended​*







More about Mike


----------



## bkeeler10 (Mar 26, 2008)

Thanks for the great review Mike. I have enjoyed the series overall, and agree that Catching Fire was the best of them. But I will definitely be "catching" this and may even watch part 1 and part 2 back-to-back. IMO this has been the most interesting of the so-called young adult novel movie adaptations over the past handful of years.


----------



## 3dbinCanada (Sep 13, 2012)

I purchased this to complete the collection. I enjoyed this one better than the previous one as it had a little more action in it.


----------



## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

Gosh, I am just not sure...I found myself bored with the first installment of the Mockingjay and am trepid about this one to be sure. Maybe a rental


----------



## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

Thanks for the excellent review... Waiting on mine to arrive today.


----------



## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Good review mike. I actually did read the series before the first film was released. I think it's a pretty good adaptation with some liberties, naturally thrown in. My oldest son read the books right after I did, and we made annual treks to watch each film in the theater. Good times. 
I agree with your soundtrack notes totally. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

Thanks for the review, Mike. I very much liked this series. I have not read the books, but of all the young adult book adaptations, Twilight, The Host, I Am Number Four, The Divergent Series, The Hunger Games is by far is the best of them all. It’s no Lord of the Rings Trilogy, but I digress.

As you said the series did get a little slow during the Mockingjay Part 1 film, but I fully anticipated as much. A 3rd book being split into two films naturally would make the first movie a set up film for the latter half. As far as Mockingjay Part 2, I watched in theaters and I actually was fully satisfied with how it ended the series. I felt there were plenty of tense sequences throughout the film, even if some of them weren’t action sequences. I thought each of the actors did a phenomenal job in each role.

I just picked my copy of this up yesterday and will be watching it probably this weekend, but I am looking forward to hearing the audio mix for this! I still don’t have Atmos and probably won’t for another couple years, but am still looking forward to the core 7.1 track.


----------

