Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: Apocalypse) will be back in action later in 2015 in the final part of the Katniss Everdeen saga, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II. Based on the second half of the Suzanne Collins book of the same name it’s poised to close out the dystopian adventure on the big screen with the intensity of the final fight with the power-obsessed President Coriolanus Snow (played brilliantly by Donald Sutherland) coming to a head.
Release date
Cinema: The UK release date for the second part of the Mockingjay story was on the 20th November 2015, following on from the U.S. release on the 19th, and with a run time of 2 hours and 10 minutes you’ll need to buckle yourself in for a hefty ride. It was available to view in 2D only, but the action isn’t ever all that screen-popping, so you probably didn’t miss out on much on the 3D side of the equation.
DVD, Blu-ray and digital download: The final part in the Katness Everdeen saga will be making its way to DVD, Blu-ray and digital download with a UK release date of the 21st March 2016. It precedes the US home entertainment release a day later on the 22nd.
Story
If you haven’t read the books already or seen Mockingjay Part I yet, you might want to catch up before reading on to avoid any spoilers ahead of the movie release. With all hell breaking loose throughout the nation of Panem and President Snow putting up a very stern fight back against the masses, Katness must mobilise with the rest of District 13 to lead the revolution against the tyrannical regime.
With the Gale, Peeta and Finnick, they band together to bring the revolt to a head with a plan to assassinate the President, but with his obsession with ending the influence Katness has over society it’s inevitably going to be a difficult task to complete. While there is no arena to fight in, she’ll have to face even more life or death danger, unrelenting enemy attacks and moral dilemmas than she even faced in the belly of The Hunger Games.
Check out the official trailer below to see a few brief snippets of some of the action, which should give you a pretty good idea about how Snow will be mounting his defense. Having had years of setting traps and orchestrating death and misery in the games, he’s rigged up the Capital with a whole host of traps for the revolutionary forces to wade through before getting anywhere near their target.
Cast
In addition to Jennifer Lawrence, who reprises her role as Katniss Everdeen one last time, the cast also sees Josh Hutcherson (Epic) return as Peeta, Liam Hemsworth (Independence Day: Resurgence) back as Gale, and Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) as Finick. Woody Harrelson (Free Birds) is back as Haymitch Abernathy, with Elizabeth Banks (The Lego Movie) as Effie Trinket, Philip Seymour Hoffman (Mission: Impossible III) as Plutarch Heavensbee, Jena Malone (Batman vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice) as Johanna, and Willow Shields as Katniss’ sister, Primrose.
Stanley Tucci (Beauty And The Beast) takes on the ostentatious role of Caesar Flickerman and Donald Sutherland (Backdraft) brings the nasty and power-crazed temperament of President Snow to sinister life once again. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II also sees Julianne Moore (Still Alice) complete her part in the final installment in the series, playing President Alma Coin, the leader of District 13.
Production
Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) directs the movie, having been in charge of both Catching Fire and Mockingjay Part I, taking over from Gary Ross, who directed the very first Hunger Games movie. It’s been produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, who have been involved since the first outing in 2012, with the screenplay written by Danny Strong and Peter Craig.
DVD and Blu-ray extras
DVD special features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson
- The Hunger Games: A Photographic Journey
- Cinna’s Sketchbook: Secrets of the Mockingjay Armor
- Panem on Display: The Hunger Games: The Exhibition
Blu-ray special features:
All DVD extras plus…
- “Pawns No More: Making The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” 8-Part Documentary, which includes:
– Walking Through Fire – a feature on concluding the saga
– Real or Not Real – visual design for the film
– High-Value Targets – looking at the ensemble cast
– From Head to Toe – a featurette on the costume, hair and make-up
– Navigating the Minefield – production and filming in Atlanta, Paris & Berlin
– Collateral Damage – looking at the stunts, special effects and weapons in the movie
– Tightening the Noose – featuring the the post-production process
– A Different World – reflecting on the series - Jet to the Set of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
First impressions
Some of the teaser creatives have been a bit on the woeful side, but now that the official trailer has been released things are looking a whole lot more like the action, adventure thriller that the previous films have gone on to be. It may not be the event of the century, but it’s probably going to be a must-watch for fans and a good shout for the rest of the cinema going audience, especially if you’re looking for a dystopian adventure that doesn’t require too much in the way of deep though or double think.
While a lot of expectant cinema goers will already know the story well from the books, they’ll all be pretty keen to see it all play out on the big screen. If it’s anything like the previous films then it will struggle not to hit the brief.
