What's new in theaters: 'Hunger Games,' 'Carol,' 'Night Before'

'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2'

After surviving two battle-to-the-death films and one movie mostly about making propaganda material, Jennifer Lawrence's ace archer Katniss Everdeen is in for one more fight for her life in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 (**½ out of four; rated PG-13; opens Friday nationwide), the explosively uneven finale to the successful movie franchise. It has the best action sequences of all four chapters, though its revolutionary message gets bogged down by a meandering plot and some good old-fashioned overacting. And if you're a parent, here's what you might want to know about its violence.

Trailer: 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2'

Katniss and her district engage in a revolution against the Capitol in 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2.'

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'Carol'

With terrific acting performances and a bygone era that sparks to life with impressive filmmaking, Carol crafts a memorable romance gift-wrapped for the holiday. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara enter what is a forbidden relationship to 1950s society but a growing and cherished one between the two (***½ out of four; rated R; opens Friday in New York and Los Angeles, expands to additional cities through Christmas).

Trailer: 'Carol'

Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star in 'Carol,' a 1950s New York-based drama in which a young department-store clerk falls for an older, married woman.

'The Night Before'

Boosted by its stellar cast and playful take on A Christmas Carol, The Night Before is a coming-of-age stoner-buddy comedy, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie, and laced with warm holiday cheer.

Trailer: 'The Night Before'

Three dudes have been friends since childhood, and for a decade, their yearly Christmas Eve reunion has been an annual night of debauchery and hilarity. But that's all going to change as they're entering adulthood.

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Other recent releases:

• Spectre , the latest James Bond installment, **½ out of four.
• The Peanuts Movie , welcome back, Charlie Brown, *** out of four.
• The Martian is out of this world, ***½ out of four.