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Movie Review: Ending 'Hunger'

I'm not going to waste your time convincing you to see "The Hunger Games" Mockingjay - Part 2."

If you're a fan, you've probably seen the final installment of the series based on the young adult novels, the "Hunger Games" trilogy by Suzanne Collins, best-known before creating the most preposterously named characters in fiction as writer of the "Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!" children's television series (2008-09).If you're not a fan, you're not missing anything.The first installment ("The Hunger Games," 2012), had its moments despite the deeply cynical and despicable premise whereby teens kill each other for televised entertainment and propaganda. The finale is thin on material and padded out to make it a fans' must-see. The chief reason to see "Hunger Games" is Jennifer Lawrence as protagonist and arch archer Katniss Everdeen. Lawrence's impassive face creates an interior life that leaves a lot to the viewer's imagination. When she's on screen, "Hunger Games" is watchable.Other actors worth noting: ever-debonair Donald Sutherland as President Snow, "kindly" dictator of the Capitol central government; Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy, in his best Tom Petty wig and sneer; Julianne Moore, haughtily regal as Alma Coin, opposition leader; Elizabeth Banks, silly as Effie Trinket, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, stoic as Plutarch Heavensbee, rebellion strategist. Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne function mainly as eye candy.The big battle scenes are when the rebels enter the Capitol and when they are at Snow's mansion gates. Director Francis Lawrence ("The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," 2013; "The Hunger Games" Mockingjay - Part 1." 2014) spends an inordinate amount of time in what appears to be a city storm sewer system, with an attack by zombielike creatures, and what resembles the boarding area of the New York Port Authority bus terminal.This leads to an inevitable and welcome conclusion: No more "Hunger Games" to baste the Thanksgiving holiday box office weekend. We've had plenty of turkey. We don't need more leftovers."The Hunger Games; Mockingjay - Part 2," MPAA Rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13) for intense sequences of violence and action, and for some thematic material; Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure; Run time: 2 hrs, 27 mins.; Distributed by Lionsgate.Credit Readers Anonymous: "The Hunger Games; Mockingjay - Part 2" filming locations included Studio Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany.Unreel, Dec. 2:"Krampus," PG-13: Michael Dougherty directs Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner and Allison Tolman in the comedy horror film about a boy who gets more than coal in his stocking for Christmas."Chi-Raq," R: Spike Lee directs Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes and Angela Bassett in the drama, an adaptation of the ancient Greek play, "Lysistrata," by Aristophanes, set in Chicago."Macbeth." No MPAA rating: Justin Kurzel directs Jack Madigan, Frank Madigan, Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in the retelling of the William Shakespeare classic."Youth," R: Paolo Sorrentino directs Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Laura De Marchi and Rachel Weisz in the drama about a retired orchestra conductor on holiday when invited by Queen Elizabeth II to perform for Prince Philip's birthday.