It's the grand conclusion to one of the most prosperous and influential franchises in entertainment history, one that ranks right alongside Twilight and Harry Potter , as well as Star Wars and Marvel's Cinematic Universe. The franchise is one of the most ambitious, informative pieces of art about war and violence aimed at young adults.
But something is different this time around. In contrast to Harry Potter or Star Wars and the "never-quite-done" feeling of those franchises, Mockingjay — Part 2 feels more terminal. The mania of the source novels' fandom has quieted, and we aren't as concerned with some of the trilogy's timelier themes as we once were. Even Katniss Everdeen — the hero of the franchise, the "Girl on Fire" — is a bit wistful.
That isn't to say The Hunger Games isn't awesome or that author Suzanne Collins and film studio Lionsgate couldn't someday surprise us with a Finnick Odair prequel, but it truly feels like Mockingjay — Part 2 is the last chapter of the Hunger Games franchise and, more broadly, the first relic of the genre of dystopian young adult literature it pioneered.
When Suzanne Collins wrote Mockingjay , she effectively shut the door to any possible sequels. The book isn't as tight or as splashy as The Hunger Games and Catching Fire , and many of its concepts are harder to grasp. It's a less exciting read, and it's much more somber. Collins wanted to make crystal clear the damaging effects of war — a much heftier task. And it's easy for that to get lost in the first two books and their respective movies because the Hunger Games themselves are the sexiest, most mythical part of the stories.
But even though Mockingjay — Part 2 is receiving mixed reviews that are weaker than those of the first movies in the franchise, it isn't a failure. That's because it, along with Mockingjay — Part 1 , stays true to Collins's vision. Rowling did with Harry Potter. Hers is more finite and constrained than a school full of adventurers: The most interesting people in Collins's stories are the ones who participate in the Games, only 3 percent one of 24 of them survive, and we've seen the stories of those who do survive who aren't background material Finnick, Johanna, etc.
In Mockingjay — Part 2 , the Games are finished and the revolution is on the verge of winning. Collins's ending in the novel sees Katniss realizing the brutality of war, choosing to break the cycle of conflict, and then living in a time of fragile, weak peace. She achieves this by killing Alma Coin, the leader of the revolution she once believed in; Katniss believes Coin will just drive Panem into another cycle of death, the same script as before but with a different cast the poorer districts oppressing the citizens of the Capitol.
The movie keeps that ending — playing it to the last note — effectively ending the saga then and there. A prequel or sequel film would feel odd and forced — as odd and forced as making two movies out of one book, which Lionsgate already did. There was really no reason other than money that the third novel in the Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay , was cleaved into two movies. Mockingjay — Part 1 ended up feeling like a placeholder — my colleague Todd VanDerWerff called it a blockbuster that hated being a blockbuster — that saved most of the action for Part 2.
Meanwhile, the unnecessarily long wait between Catching Fire the best movie in the franchise and the conclusion of the story in Part 2 , with Part 1 just delaying the end of the series to sell a few more tickets, has dulled some of the excitement and momentum.
Putting out a prequel or a sequel a couple of years from now would be giving us something no one is asking for. The main theme of The Hunger Games , the first book in the trilogy, concerns class warfare. All the world building and lore creation is wrapped around the idea of inequality and how it's capable and powerful enough to leach every last drop of humanity from people.
The rich inhabitants of the Capitol use their wealth to establish subservience from neighboring districts, subservience so strong that the poor kill one another for sport. This continues for the next book and a half. Collins's fascination with inequality makes perfect sense when you take note of when the books were written and published. The first novel in the trilogy came out in , when the recession had a firm grip on the United States — middle-class families were hit devastatingly hard, and many people's retirement savings disintegrated.
Let's discuss — and be warned, spoilers abound. The film ends, like Catching Fire , on Katniss' face. Only this time, she's watching a struggling Peeta fight against his restraints while President Coin, played by Julianne Moore, makes a chilling speech in the background. They're mirror images of each other, both puppets in this war. If you remember, Peeta was being slowly tortured by the Capitol and injected with tracker jacker venom so that he would fear and attack Katniss.
It is the things we love most that will destroy us, as President Snow taunted. So, so changed. Poor Peeta. I'd say he needs a hug, but he'd probably strangle me first. It is important to note that part one of the film ends after the book's part two begins. Remember that? The book was divided into "The Ashes" and "The Assault. A good choice, if you ask me. To that end, Plutarch uses his position as gamemaker to shape the Quarter Quell as a foundation for rebellion - centered on Hunger Games victor Katniss Everdeen.
Plutarch tips his hand to Everdeen during the 74th Victory Tour when he shows her his Mockingjay watch - though the District 12 victor, still scarred from her experience in the games, is too suspicious to know Plutarch's true intentions. As Everdeen and the other tributes prepare for the Quarter Quell, Plutarch coordinates with District 13 president Alma Coin and District 12 victor Haymitch Abernathy, who are organizing rebels in the districts - while slyly using Katniss and Peeta's "engagement" to distract Snow and alter public opinion.
As part of Plutarch's plan, he enlists Abernathy to convince half of the Quarter Quell tributes to join forces against Capitol loyalist tributes to escape the Games and, most importantly, protect Katniss who is becoming the symbol of rebellion in the districts.
Many tributes give their lives in the Quarter Quell arena Chaff, Seeder, Mags, Woof, Cecelia, the Morphlings, and Wiress or are captured in the aftermath Peeta and Joanna but Plutarch's plan succeeds - and the rebels rescue Katniss along with Finnick and Beetee from the arena.
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