The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2


The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is a 2015 American dystopian action film directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong, based on the 2010 novel Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. The sequel to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, it is the fourth installment in The Hunger Games film series and the final installment in the original film series. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, and in his final film role, Philip Seymour Hoffman. In the film, Katniss Everdeen leads a team of rebels into the very heart of the Capitol to liberate it and all of Panem from the tyrannical leadership of Coriolanus Snow.
Together with its predecessor, principal photography began in September 2013 and lasted until June 2014, taking place back-to-back, with filming locations including Boston, Atlanta, Paris, Berlin, and Los Angeles. Hoffman, who died in February 2014, completed the majority of his scenes, although his death caused others to be rewritten.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 premiered at the Sony Center in Berlin on November 4, 2015, and was released in the United States on November 20, by Lionsgate, in 2D, 3D, and IMAX. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its performances, screenplay, music, and action sequences; it was deemed a fitting end to the series, although some were divided on the decision to split the novel into two films. It grossed $661.4 million, making it the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2015.
Among its accolades, the film was nominated for Best Fantasy Film at the 42nd Saturn Awards. It received three nominations at the 21st Empire Awards for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Best Actress and Best Production Design, while Lawrence was nominated for Best Actress in an Action Movie at the 21st Critics' Choice Awards.
A prequel film, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, was released on November 17, 2023.

Plot

After being attacked by a brainwashed Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen recovers from her injuries in District 13. President of District 13, Alma Coin, refuses to let Katniss go to the Capitol until they secure District 2, the last district under Capitol control. Katniss is sent to join the assault on the Capitol's armory in District 2, hoping to rally the rebels in that district to join their cause. After they secure District 2, Finnick and Annie get married.
Johanna covers for Katniss while she sneaks onboard a ship on its way to the Capitol. Katniss is recruited into the Star Squad, a special group that includes Gale and Finnick. They are given orders to stay away from the front lines and given suicide pills if captured. Though still not fully recovered, Peeta joins the team to appear in propaganda videos. Under Boggs' command, the squad reaches the Capitol, avoiding deadly "pods" or booby traps planted by the Capitol's Game Makers using Boggs' holographic map. However, Boggs is mortally wounded by one of the pods and entrusts the map to Katniss while warning her not to trust anyone and about President Coin's ulterior motives.
A team member accidentally triggers a pod that seals their area and releases acidic, black tar-like liquid. During their escape, Peeta relapses, attacks Katniss, and kills a squad member attempting to stop him by pushing them into the tar, before the others subdue him and hide in a building. Peacekeepers corner them, but the Leeg sisters stay behind to hold them off while the rest escape, leading to the building’s destruction and their deaths. The Capitol announces Katniss's death, and Snow begins a speech but is interrupted by a cyberattack from District 13, allowing Coin to deliver a eulogy to inspire the rebels.
Katniss leads them through the sewers beneath the Capitol, but Snow, alerted by their survival, deploys genetically-engineered reptilian "mutts" to attack them. Finnick and several others are killed, but Katniss uses the map to trigger an explosion, destroying the mutts. The survivors take refuge in a house owned by Tigris, a former stylist for the Hunger Games.
As Snow invites Capitol citizens into his mansion under the guise of evacuating to form a human shield, Katniss and Gale join the crowd in disguise, intending to infiltrate the mansion. The rebels arrive in the Capitol and engage the Peacekeepers. Gale is eventually taken away by the Peacekeepers. The Capitol children are separated and brought closer to the mansion, but a Capitol ship drops a bomb on them. Medics rush onto the scene, including Katniss's sister Prim, but are killed by a second bombing, and Katniss is knocked unconscious.
Katniss wakes up, and Haymitch informs her that the rebels have won the war. She confronts Snow, who reveals that Coin staged the bombing to turn his followers against him. Katniss initially doesn't believe him until Snow reminds her that they agreed never to lie to each other.
Coin, now the interim President, refuses to hold the promised democratic election and suggests a final, symbolic Hunger Games using Capitol leaders' children as revenge. Some tributes, including Peeta, are outraged, while others support the initiative. Katniss agrees to the plan but demands to execute Snow herself. At Snow's execution, while preparing to shoot Snow in front of a mob, Katniss instead shoots Coin, killing her. Snow laughs before being lynched by the mob. Katniss then tries to swallow her pill, but Peeta stops her, and she is arrested. Haymitch brings Katniss a letter from Plutarch, assuring Katniss that she will be pardoned, the Hunger Games will cease to exist, and she will be able to return to District 12.
She returns home, and Peeta, nearly recovered from his conditioning, joins her. They receive a letter from Annie about their friends' lives. Years later, Katniss and Peeta are married with two children. When their newborn cries from a nightmare, Katniss comforts her, promising to share their past story.

Cast

Stef Dawson returned for her third appearance as Annie Cresta, Meta Golding for her second appearance as Enobaria, Robert Knepper as Antonius, Paula Malcomson for her fourth appearance as Katniss’s mother, Eugenie Bondurant as Tigris, Gwendoline Christie as Commander Lyme, a previous victor from District 2. Twins Misty and Kim Ormiston as Leeg 1 and Leeg 2, and Joe Chrest as Mitchell, while Jennifer Lawrence's nephews, Theodore and Bear Lawrence, appear briefly as Katniss and Peeta's children.

Production

Pre-production

On July 10, 2012, Lionsgate announced that the film adaptation of Mockingjay would be split into two parts; The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, released on November 21, 2014, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, released November 20, 2015. On November 1, 2012, Francis Lawrence, director of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, announced that he would return to direct both final films in the series. Talking about direction for last two parts Francis explains, "I felt a different kind of pressure," he explains. ", I had to prove myself a little bit as the new guy in the game. It was a relief that it was received well by the fans. Even though I was relieved, it was only momentary; it sort of set the bar higher for the next one!"
On December 6, 2012, Danny Strong announced that he would write the third and fourth films. On February 15, 2013, Lionsgate approved the script for Part 1 and gave Strong permission to write that of Part 2. In August, Hemsworth confirmed that shooting of the film would begin the following month.
The film's production began on September 16, 2013, in Boston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Studio Babelsberg co-produced and oversaw production services for the film. On November 13, 2013, producer Nina Jacobson revealed that Peter Craig was also hired to write the adaptations. The film carried a production budget of $160 million with a further $55 million spent on promotion and advertisements, and $13.9 million in television advertisements.

Casting

All the principal cast such as Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, Liam Hemsworth as Gale, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Donald Sutherland as President Snow, Elizabeth Banks as Effie, Willow Shields as Prim, Paula Malcomson as Katniss’ mother and Stanley Tucci as Caesar, return to reprise their roles. Julianne Moore also returned to reprise her role as President Alma Coin, along with Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died during the filming in February 2014, as Plutarch. He had nearly completed his scenes, and his two remaining scenes were rewritten to compensate for his absence. His death also changed the actors schedule to shorter work days. Regarding Hoffman's scenes, Francis Lawrence commented that, "He had two substantial scenes left and the rest were appearances in other scenes. We had no intention of trying to fake a performance, so we rewrote those scenes to give to other actors… The rest, we just didn't have him appear in those scenes. There's no digital manipulation or CG fabrication of any kind." One of the changed scenes saw the character of Plutarch sending Katniss a letter in prison, read by Haymitch, rather than coming himself to talk to her after her arrest for assassinating President Coin, explained as him being unable to see her for political reasons after her actions, which he nonetheless supports.
On August 26, 2013, it was announced that actress Stef Dawson had joined the cast to portray Annie Cresta. Lionsgate announced on September 13, 2013, that Julianne Moore joined the cast to play President Alma Coin. The same month, Lily Rabe, Patina Miller, Mahershala Ali, Wes Chatham, and Elden Henson were announced to have joined the cast, to reprise their roles of Commander Lyme, Commander Paylor, Boggs, Castor, and Pollux, respectively. During this time, there was also a casting call for extras. Rabe subsequently had to leave the film due to a scheduling conflict with the 2014 Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing. On April 4, 2014, it was announced that she would be replaced by Gwendoline Christie to portray Lyme. Wyatt Russell was originally offered a role in both parts of Mockingjay, but his father Kurt confirmed in September 2013 that he turned down the offer to star in 22 Jump Street.