To kill a Mockingjay

Although the Confederate flag has been lowered on official buildings in the Deep South, the Confederate spirit lives on.  Suzanne Collins, who wrote the Hunger Games series, although not born and raised in the south, imbibed anti-federalist, anti-UN sentiment at her alma mater in Alabama and now resides in 'eerie' Indiana.  So 'peacekeepers' are the henchmen of the bad guys and President Snow (Donald Sutherland) wears an outfit typical of the US Civil War era.  There's extra but it's more evident in the first two films.
Okay, it was a big book but when Mockingjay was split into two movies as is the Hollywood fashion these days, to the first installment, I said to myself 'no dice' - I was not willing to swell the coffers of Hollywood just so they could pump me for more money by splitting it in two.  Scathingly, one does not need to watch Mockingjay - Part 1 to get the gist of Part 2; essentially, Peeta has been rescued and most of the other districts have fallen to the rebels.  I really wanted to enjoy Part 2 and though for its running time I did, on reflection it dissipates as quickly as morning mist.
The first two editions of the Hunger Games were really very good, so that this one is so derivative is disappointing.  The purity of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is preserved through her compassion for civilians, even though it imperils her life, but it's a little obvious.  The platoon that is picked off one by one by an assortment of hazards is highly unoriginal, replicated across many genres with both militarised and/or civilian companies.  Although we don't know who's next to get it, many will die.  Some of the deaths are predictable - just married? (you're toast).  An authority figure? (nice knowing you).  Family member? (better get that tombstone ready).  To its credit, even in the most brutal of circumstances, sentimentality is eschewed until the very end.  Also, the pursuit by the mutts in the underground levels is genuinely terrifying, much reminiscent of Aliens.  The score tries to throw us off, throbbing to a climax when nothing is there and going silent when again the coast is clear.
Yet it's trying too hard to shake off the familiarity.  There's a dour love triangle going on.  One death is so telegraphed ahead that the 'shock' change of target isn't a surprise at all (again, this has been done far better in other films).  Also, the floating 'gifts' are so obviously bombs.  Here's where I'm going into spoiler mode.  Katniss got involved in the Hunger Games to save her sister but at the last this is irrelevant as her sister dies as one of the medics (yet at least the latter had a full war so it wasn't so sad).  But then again, Katniss did bring down the old order and help prevent its replication.  Further to the film's credit, there is no climatic showdown between Katniss and Snow (at least not where each has an even chance).
This is Phillip Seymour Hoffman's last movie and like many a great actor who has departed on a low note, this has been true of him (what completed scenes they had left of Hoffman plus stock footage).  That's not to say The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is a bad film but it's not really worthy of a second viewing.  5 out of 10.