Based on the best-selling novels by Suzanne Collins, the “Hunger Games” movies have always been a little smarter and a little more assured than their many competitors in the young-adult arena, and now the story comes to a close in “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2,” a sequel that, in a crowded field, winds up being one of the year’s most satisfying popcorn movies.
The political satire is intelligent and trenchant (and, it should be noted, far wittier than almost anything in “Our Brand Is Crisis”), the action is thrilling, the characters are empathetic, and while its taken me three previous movies to get there, I find myself getting chills when her fellow rebels give Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) that three-fingered salute of defiance.