THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2 (SPOILER-FREE) REVIEW

What Is It: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is the final installment of the wildly successful Hunger Games franchise.  Picking up moments after Part 1 ended, this final installment shows the rebels of Panem continuing to fight for their freedom from the ruling fist of The Capitol.  Katniss Everdeen (Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence) and her team, including Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin), Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), Cressida (Natalie Dormer), and a recovering Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) set off for The Capitol in order to take down President Snow (legendary actor Donald Sutherland) and finally have the freedom that the Districts deserve, but in doing so, they find that The Capitol has set up a whole new version of The Hunger Games where everyone must play and fight for their lives.  

My Experience: I saw this movie last night in the brand-new reclining seats at our local movie theatre, my first real outing since my recent stint in the hospital and it was such a great reason to go out.  Yes, there were some obnoxious high school kids in the audience, but you could tell that everyone in the theatre was a true fan of the series and was genuinely excited to see this movie.  The new reclining seats, by the way?  Totally amazing, baller-status, first class seats.  You should definitely try those out at your local movie theatre.

Why You Should See It: This is by  far one of the more exciting installments of the series where everyone's acting is on point and every cast member gives amazing performances.  It is bittersweet to see the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman in his final portrayal as Game Maker Plutarch Heavensbee and you can't help but wonder if that final scene where he was mentioned was after the actor was already gone.   If you're a fan of The Hunger Games series, this is definitely a movie not to be missed.

The Future: This may be the final installment of The Hunger Games series, but this is not the last you'll see of this all-star cast.  Jennifer Lawrence can next be seen in another David O. Russell film with Bradley Cooper entitled Joy which is due out at the end of the year and next year you can see her as Mystique/Raven Darkholme in X-Men: Apocalypse.  Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson will re-team next year for a film called By Way of Helena and Hemsworth is currently filming Independence Day: Resurgence.  Woody Harrelson can be seen next year in Now You See Me: The Second Act, the follow-up to the magic spectacle from 2013 of the same name.  Sam Claflin will be reprising his role as William in The Huntsman Winter's War next year while his District 4 fellow Victor, Jena Malone will be trying her and at superhero movies in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Finally, Stanley Tucci will be playing the Cadenza in the highly-anticipated live-action version of Beauty and the Beast alongside Emma Watson, Emma Thompson, Josh Gad, and Kevin Kline, just to name a few.  May the odds be ever in their favor!