Very Slow Pace; Almost 2 Hours of Melodrama with No Payoff

Rating: 3/10 (20 November 2014)

Let me first note that I am an avid movie-goer, but not a reader of the books. I did, however, watch the first two Hunger Games movies and was pleasantly surprised by them. They kept my attention, with plot and performances intriguing and action-packed enough to get from one scene to the next without a dull moment.
This latest installment is the exact opposite. The movie opens with some melodramatic scenes where Katniss (JLaw) suffers from previous trauma, then scene after scene just keeps rehashing the same weepy look on her face partnered with some sentimental background music. "Remember how President Snow tried to kill everyone in our district? Sniff." followed by "How could he do this again in this district? Sniff." then "Why is he doing this to my friends? Sniff." over and over until the end. Imagine that for 2 hours. That is essentially this movie.
Other scenes later on are just variations of the same - different scenery (a town in ruins, a mountain lake, a bomb shelter), different characters to ruminate with (the old flame Gale, old allies like Finnick and new ones like the District 13 folks, the sister Prim) - but they essentially are the same scene. I really wanted to tell the director the whole time: "Ok I get it, they are all angry and hurt. Now what? Please advance the story." I understand this treatment is beneficial at the start to provide some exposition on how the characters are brewing in their discontent and how it all boils over later on, but that's also what the first two movies already established. To fill 2 hours of the supposedly climactic final chapter with further exposition is just too much, perhaps unless you truly are a solid fan and have the patience to wait it out.
There was one final part in this movie that was intended to be a climax of sorts before the cliffhanger. It's the only scene that promises some sort of cathartic, action-packed sequence, but they skip the meat and flash-forward until after the event concludes.
There were, however, some good scenes of rebels rousing here and there that were quite entertaining even if they were also just more exposition fodder. At least they reminded me to wake up from time to time.
I think this is the unfortunate fault of the cash-grab strategy of trying to split the last book into two parts. The movie just feels so out of place with regards to momentum, which was a very positive thing going for the storyline in the first two movies. Even though Catching Fire was essentially just going back to the Hunger Games, it still felt fast and different enough to keep me tuned in. This movie managed to rehash itself endlessly and leave me feeling like nothing of gravity happened after my viewing experience... and it tried so hard to make me care via the melodrama, yet I am left unsold.