The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2

Theseus wept. An alternately grim and goo goo-eyed wrap-up to the Hunger Games film franchise, Mockingjay—Part 2 reaps the mistakes sown by the previous entries. The gravest mistake, of course, was splitting the final book in Suzanne Collins' teen-lit trilogy into two parts. Born of pure greed, this mercenary move resulted in two diluted storylines, a scarcity of action and an insane amount of screen time spent loitering in living rooms and unlit tunnels. Jennifer Lawrence returns as the mercurial and courageous Katniss Everdeen, caught between her hatred of the near-future fascist government of Panem and her mistrust of the rebel leaders guarding her back. Beyond its simplistic political allegory, Mockingjay—Part 2 is supposed to be the emotional crescendo to an epic love triangle, but due a complete lack of chemistry between Lawrence and her callow male co-stars, it's all hollow, and the gold-embossed Super Happy Ending feels fraudulent. D.B.