Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Willow Shields, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Mahershala Ali, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, Paula Malcomson, Stanley Tucci, Natalie Dormer, Eugenie Bondurant, Wes Chatham, Elden Henson, Evan Ross.

There are some films, despite how many books may have been published in the series before hand, that on occasion you may find yourself thinking viciously you should have stopped at just one, for over abundance in a set of films can lead to the physical pain of feeling overfed, that the single delightful course placed before you was enough to have good feeling shared and memories of perhaps a great night out round a table with friends. Yet as each serving comes along, setting after setting, the less inclined you are to devour with temptation, instead it becomes gluttony. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 was not just an extra helping too far, it was the threat of the wafer thin mint wafting under the cinematic eyes that threatened to burst the belly in a grotesque version of Monty Python’s famous sketch.

The Mockingjay sequels themselves would have been far better off condensed down to one film, lengthy perhaps but still sitting comfortably within the framework of one film and it is for that the stomach growls, not through hunger but through being led by the nose with almost commercial intent and told to wait for yet another helping of force fed dodo.

As the film progresses, the viewer is left with only the idea of a global game being instrumental in keeping the attention going, the good but under used touches of desperation as the heroes in waiting fight their way through to the capital and the fall out of one person’s betrayal. Otherwise, and with exception to the excellent Donald Sutherland as President Snow and the late and much missed Philip Seymour Hoffman, the cast feel arguably that they have struggled through the motions as the withering climax of the series reaches its thankful finale.

Not even Jennifer Lawrence as the hero Katniss Everdeen makes much of an impression upon the weary soul by the time The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 parts company forever with the delight that was intrinsic to the first instalment, not so much Hunger Games anymore, sadly more verging on the realms of fed-up games. A stale and unenlightening ending, the fascination with the menu long since forgotten!

Ian D. Hall