As she awakens in the rebellious District 13, our heroine Katniss Everdeen struggles to fathom the destruction of her home and her separation from her friend and fellow victor Peeta. However, Katniss once again finds herself in the middle of a conflict much greater than herself as she becomes the “Mockingjay,” a symbol of the resistance to a cruel dictatorship.

Despite its promising source material, “Mockingjay” serves merely as filler – an unnecessary placeholder movie, meant only to draw out the franchise for as long as possible by needlessly splitting a book into two films. Therefore, “Mockingjay” unabashedly favors commercial and monetary success over quality as the split into two movies fails to enhance the film in any way.

The film also lacks the excitement and action of its predecessors. Heck, it doesn’t even have a true climax. “Mockingjay,” therefore, fails to achieve the success of the heart-pounding, bloody action scenes of the original Hunger Games or the subtle, suspenseful conflicts of the second installment. Instead, “Mockingjay” attempts to hover in between, but, without clear direction or purpose, comes crashing down. Even the ending of the film is a failed attempt to recreate the cliffhanger ending of “Catching Fire” as it abruptly trips and falls like an unfinished thought.

One aspect of “Mockingjay” that flies to heights above the previous films is its surprisingly insightful and slightly satirical political commentary as Katniss becomes a symbol for propaganda, and each side wages a war of words to sway public opinion.

However, while “Mockingjay” succeeds in capturing the political conflicts of the book, it glosses over the internal conflicts of the characters. As a result, the characters seem more washed-out and distant, losing the depth that they harbored in the original story.

Regardless, the cast members manage to squeeze a lot out of their seemingly bland characters. Jennifer Lawrence once again stars in a balancing act between strength and vulnerability as she plays the heroic, yet relatable Katniss. And boy does she shine. Lawrence adds a sense of maturity and strength to the film that keeps “Mockingjay” just barely flying.

With a cast packed with talented, powerhouse actors, Lawrence is not the film’s only asset. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julianne Moore, for example, claim ground-shaking presence that adds power and weight to the strategizing scenes in District 13. Elizabeth Banks, on the other hand, adds a pinch of humor and warmth to the sterile, intense atmosphere.

This atmosphere, however, succeeds in conveying the grim, dark tones of the story that also manage to eclipse those of the previous films.

With its lack of action, internal conflict and direction, “Mockingjay” clearly focuses more on money than storytelling as its strong cast struggles to unfurl its wings. However, with interesting allegorical ideas, tone and political conflict, “Mockingjay” barely manages to stay in the air.

My conclusion: 4/10