That resulting thud you hear is the disappointing opening weekend numbers for Allegiant, the third part of the four part adaptation of the Divergent trilogy. Its arrival coincides with Lionsgate’s release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 as a Blu-ray Combo Pack. The commercial demands that the final book of a series be broken into two films made sense for the final Harry Potter novel but certainly not for Mockingjay as witnessed by the poor critical reception Part 1 received in 2014.

Now we have the finale and while stronger, continues to lend credence to the argument it didn’t need to be two separate films (and the year’s wait, in retrospect, was probably a mistake).

The bloom may be off the YA Dystopian rose as the films rushing to the screen in the wake of The Hunger Games’ well-deserved respect failed to measure up. What many of the authors and filmmakers neglected to do was create a protagonist with as many layers as poor Katniss Everdeen.

Fortunately, screenwriters Peter Craig and Danny Strong have not sanded off Katniss’ (Jennifer Lawrence) edges and she remains the most reluctant protagonist in the recent memory. All she wanted to do was protect her sister and bit by bit, page by page, volume by volume, she was dragged kicking and screaming (sometimes literally) into becoming a symbol.

This final installment wavers between her being the focal point of the rebellion against President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and the residents of decadent District 1 and being part of something greater. We see her swearing she will kill Snow and sneaks out of District 13 to make her way to District 2 but then she’s part of Unit 451 and taking orders from others. She is not in the forefront of the fighting, in fact the unit is made of photogenic icons, survivors of previous games and therefore representing the fight against the cruel treatment of Panem’s residents.

She suffers and is made to suffer as those around her manipulate her mother (Paula Malcolmson) and sister Prim (Willow Shields), her friends Peeta Josh Hutcherson) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth), twisting the Mockingjay to their own purposes. At no point does she really stand up and take control of her own fate and make the demands necessary to be the hero we expect her to. And that is Suzanne Collins’ brilliance in her trilogy, that Katniss remains a heroine thrust into situations by circumstance and struggles to survive, but rarely getting to choose how.

Of the adaptations, this one has the most substantive changes from the source material as the violence is toned down to maintain the PG-13 rating and various threads are dropped or truncated in favor of action, mayhem, and tears. As a result, some characters get short-shrift, notably mom, Prim, and Haymitch (Woody Harrelson). Poor Philip Seymour Hoffman lost his life before filming a key scene towards the end but Plutarch’s hand remains strongly felt throughout. Snow and President Coin (Julianne Moore) deliver indelible performances that help remind us of the political stakes. The screenwriters smartly elevated the role played by Commander Paylor (Patina Miller) so her later participation makes sense.

Director Francis Lawrence makes up for the slog that was Part 1 with a tauter paced tale with sweep and scope. He coaxes nice performances from his cast and delivers a satisfying conclusion to the epic.

The high definition transfer is excellent, preserving the colors and allowing us to see the shadows, notably in the sewer sequence. We can luxuriate in the rich colors of the costumes, explosions, and details in the final scenes. It is well-matched with the Dolby Atmos soundtrack.

The Blu-ray offers up Audio Commentary from Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson.

Additionally, we get the right-part documentary Pawns No More: Making The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2which is 2:30 of detailed behind-the-scenes footage from every possible angle and is fascinating at time. There is also The Hunger Games: A Photographic Journey (10:12), which examines still photographer Murray Close’s career; Cinna’s Sketchbook (10:00), which explores the costuming for the final films; Panem on Display, focusing on the traveling museum exhibits and Jet to the Set, a contest.

Lionsgate has simultaneously released a box set of all four films which boasts 14 hours of bonus content including previously unseen deleted scenes.

The Creeps: The Trolls Will Feast!
By Chris Schweizer
Amulet, 122 pages, $17.95/$9.95

Last August, Amulet introduced us to Chris Schweizer’s middle school gang The Creeps. Their inaugural appearance, Night of the Frankenfrogs, was packed and didn’t entirely work so I was curious to see how he would deepen the characters or expand their world in his sophomore book.

To my pleasant surprise, Schweizer offers up a far more satisfying effort. The kids start off already in trouble with the local constabulary in Pumpkins County but quickly we get the impression bigger problems are developing. Something is interfering with electronic signals so cellphones and Wi-Fi connections are not working. And there’s something about Jock Brogglin that makes him more than just a troublemaker.

In short order, the kids learn from Jock that he is the last survivor of a previous generation of troll fighters and now, after too short a hibernation period, the trolls are ready to attack and feast on the inhabitants. One problem: no one can see the Trolls.

The Creeps need intel and here we learn more about the bizarre beings that are a part of their universe; not just the trolls, but also Mitchell’s older brother. While we still haven’t met their parents, we at least know they are not a collection of single children. Actually, the absence of parental figures rings false as the book opens with the kids in police custody, having their mug shots taken. As minors that would demand parental involvement.

Be that as it may, the four kids – Carol, Mitchell, Jarvis, and Rosario – prove tight and functional with distinctive personalities being rounded out. What seems like a throwaway bit, a video of Rosario singing (very badly) that has gone viral, prove pivotal later on.

Schweizer also gives us Jock, proving not every adult in the books (teachers last time, police this time) are idiots, which is refreshing.

Each of his 122 pages is packed with six to eight panel pages proliferating throughout. At times the pacing is a little off, especially towards the end where it feels like he was cramming things in to finish the story, but it’s all clearly laid out and colored so it makes for a good reading experience for the young adult reading audience.

This is a stronger offering and shows greater command of the characters and their setting so the series is taking on a nice shape.