Being an avid fan of The Hunger Games series of novels as well as the film adaptations, the one question I had was: “Will the final instalment bring some sort of closure?”
BY Nomzamo Mbatha
After all, this is the very last time one will be watching the Districts in a show-down. The Mockingjay sequence is split into two parts, with Part 1 leaving all of us wondering if Katniss will ever find justice.
But, yes, she is back to finish the job. In Part 2, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), our hero’s hero, is driven by her lust for revenge against President Snow (Donald Sutherland) under the orders of President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), who prepares for one final assault on the Capitol. Coin sends out the final order to get into the Capitol to destroy President Snow. She advises Katniss that she will be asked to stay behind instead of front-lining the army as she usually does. Of course, Katniss disobeys these orders and sets out on her own mission.
Along with her team, Katniss navigates through districts that have booby traps all over, in an epic tale of war, survival, love and purpose. The film does an incredible job at highlighting the effects of post-traumatic disorder and the inner emotional battles that one endures fighting it.
We see both Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) navigate these feelings by taking the audience on an emotional roller-coaster. However, this does not in any way take away from the action-packed, nail-biting pace that the film echoes. One literally wants to hold onto their seat and never let go.
Perhaps it is the incredible soundtrack that director Francis Lawrence used as a backdrop. The recurring theme of “real-or-not-real” will also have fans swooning.
Lawrence is an incredible performer and with the film ending, she was able to convey all the inner conflicts and internal wars Katniss was going through. For someone who took three days to accept the role as she thought it would be detrimental to her career, there is none that could’ve played Katniss so well.
l Mbatha is an award-winning actress and attended the premier in Berlin, Germany
