The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2

This one picks up exactly where the last one left off, with Katniss getting her neck tended to after a brainwashed Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) tried to choke her out. Peeta is in a really bad place thanks to evildoer President Snow (Donald Sutherland), and he's as reliable as a friend who dropped some really bad acid. Part 1 was a more laid-back affair, while this chapter amps the action up, especially in the second half. There's an underground sequence where Katniss and friends must battle mutants that look a little like the cave creatures from The Descent. It's during this sequence that returning director Francis Lawrence really lets us know that Part 2 will easily be the darkest and nastiest in the whole franchise. It actually pushes the PG-13 rating to its very limit. In addition to the surprisingly high body count, Part 2 hits hard with its “don't trust the government!” message. While we already knew President Snow is quite the scumbag, this film adds another surprising villain to the mix. Yes, all of you readers of the book knew what was going to happen, but my ignorant, non-HG-reading ass got taken by surprise when I saw which way things were going. This is the last screen performance of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who didn't quite finish his role as Plutarch Heavensbee, but did enough for editors to put something convincing together. Plutarch actually takes his exit via a letter to Katniss in a surprisingly poignant move. Hoffman, even in his few scenes, commands the screen like no other. It's such a lousy thing that he isn't with us anymore.