First reviews land for 'grey and gloomy' Hunger Games finale

The final installment to the Hunger Games movies Mockingjay Part 2 is released in New Zealand later this week, and critics say fans are in for a "gloomy" ride.

The film marks the end of Katniss Everdeen's traumatic story, set in a dystopian future where children are forced to battle each other in annual fights to the death, based on the sci-fi novels by Suzanne Collins.

So far the film has received an 85 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes despite critics calling Mockingjay Part 2 "dreary".

Film critic Jake Coyle of Associated Press wrote in his review that "the pop pleasures of the early installments (the best of which was Catching Fire) are gone in the gray-and-gloomy part two of Mockingjay."

Coyle only gave the movie two stars and called the movie "dull".

Entertainment Weekly warned "abandon hope, all ye who enter the fourth and final Hunger Games installment here".

Reviewer Leah Greenblatt gave the film a B-minus saying "the acting and production values are still well above grade, and Lawrence skillfully holds the centre, letting everything the skeletal dialogue doesn't say play across her face""

Todd McCarthy of the Hollywood Reporter called it "pervasively grim".

It's not all bad for Mockingjay Part 2. Many critics gave the film four out of five stars, including Total Film's Matt Maytum who praised Lawrence, writing that the star "shines once again in a fitting send-off for cinema's best YA franchise".

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in a scene from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. Photo / AP

Robbie Collin of the Daily Telegraph wrote in his review: "It's sad to see this deservedly successful franchise reach the end of its run: but here's hoping its dissident spirit will survive in young-adult blockbusters to come."

International Business Times' Amy West called it "undoubtedly the darkest film in the series, it goes hard and heavy on its subject matter."

And Tom Huddleston from UK's Time Out said the movie "might be the most thrillingly downbeat blockbuster in recent memory, a film that starts out pitiless and goes downhill from there". Both also gave the film four stars.

Forbes magazine gave the film 7 out of 10, with critic Scott Mendelson saying "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 ends the franchise on a high note, solidifying it as a defining blockbuster series for a generation born after 9/11."

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is in cinemas from November 19.

- nzherald.co.nz