In the genuinely shocking and surprising third act, it wades deep into the moral shades of grey at the story's core and comes out the other side with no easy solution.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
This is a film that dares to be about something while still delivering as a piece of straightforward entertainment.
The pace, which had been so tightly controlled in the first two films, is a curious mess, starting off painfully slowly, then rushing when it really matters.
If anything, this is too faithful to the book, sometimes getting bogged down in detail as Katniss struggles to her goal. But its epic sweep, grand designs and unyielding central performance make this a compelling finale.
Entertainment Weekly by Leah Greenblatt
With its political power struggles and prodigious body count, all rendered in a thousand shades of wintry greige, the movie feels less like teen entertainment than a sort of Hunger Games of Thrones.
Jennifer Lawrence shines once again in a fitting send-off for cinema’s best YA franchise. The hefty action and high stakes outweigh any shortcomings.
One could argue that “Mockingjay” didn’t really merit being split in two (and surely a single three-hour movie could be made of it), but we benefit from the fact that the film has been given room to breathe, which allows for subtle character moments...and the gradual building of suspense during the actual siege in the Capitol.
Screen International by Tim Grierson
Mockingjay — Part 2 proves to be the most satisfying, gripping and emotional film in the franchise, resolving Katniss Everdeen’s odyssey with tense action sequences and a well-earned poignancy.
The Hollywood Reporter by Todd McCarthy
This is a dish that has been prepared over a low heat for a long time, which makes for some pretty slow-going early on.
Time Out London by Tom Huddleston
This might be the most downbeat blockbuster in memory, a film that starts out pitiless and goes downhill from there, save for a fleeting glimmer of hope in the final moments. It’s a bold statement about the unforgiving nature of war, unashamedly political in its motives and quietly devastating in its emotional effect.