Movie Review: 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2'

As the title implies, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2 is not a movie that tells a complete story. While last year’s Mockingjay—Part 1 was like watching the first half of a to-be-continued TV episode, Part 2 is a lot like picking up a book, opening to the middle, and starting from there. For those of you familiar with the dystopian woes of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and the drama in the near-future world of Panem, this provides a mostly satisfactory conclusion the saga.

'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2' Trailer Is Finally Here, And It's Badass

It’s been a few years and a bumpy ride for heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), but the dystopian teen phenomenon finally wraps up later this year when The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2 storms theaters like a horde of rebels attacking a fictional city. Just in case you forgot how intense this is going to be, this new trailer reminds you of just that.

'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part1' Movie Review: All Smoke, No Fire

There are parts of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1 that are harrowing, moving, and action-packed. While that can be fun to watch, and there are some nice bits of spectacle level eye candy, including the destruction of a massive damn, the problem is that the film never becomes more than simply the first part in a larger saga. This makes sense, obviously, as the third book in Suzanne Collins’ dystopian young adult trilogy has been split into two movies, but in this case, the film is all build up and feels like it’s just killing time before getting to the meaty part of the story.