Mockingjay Part 2

Review by Charles Moffat, November 2015.

As an archery instructor I am probably both the best and the worst person to be reviewing a film wherein archery is a theme.

Nevertheless, lets get the worst part over. I give Mockingjay Part 2 a meagre 3.5 out of 5 stars. Lets explain why...

#1. I am glad the film "trilogy" is over. Maybe next time someone makes a film or film trilogy with archery in it they will teach the actor or actress how to shoot properly. As an afficionado of all things warfare (from mangonels to trebuchets and from scimitars to khopeshes) I can tell you it really annoys me when a film or franchise doesn't even get the weaponry names or how they are properly used correct. In case you don't know, "Katniss" has been anchoring her fingers near her jawline, something only amateur archers would ever do when using a longbow or a traditional recurve. The proper place to anchor when using such a bow is on the mouth as it is a more consistent anchor point - there you go, you just learned something. Only archers using gadgetry use a jawline anchor.

#2. Having also read the books I must tell you that Mockingjay Part 2 has no surprises. No major changes from the third book. It is basically a somewhat dismal ending to a series, as if the author wasn't sure how to end it and decided on a somewhat lame plot twist.

#3. People die. Which is normal, people always die in the Hunger Games franchise. Still you do kind of wish they would have changed that bit, like watching Romeo and Juliet and wishing they would give it a happy ending for once - giving the audience what they want.

#4. There is really only ONE major archery scene in the film. I won't count a scene near the end because she really only shoots 1 arrow. (It could have been more interesting had she done a "double tap", but alas, no.)

#5. The acting was okay. To be expected. But the overall feel of the film is that it was a "Meh, that was okay." Not bad, not fantastic. So three stars makes sense.

The extra half star is there because the epilogue was good.