The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

Having put an end to The Hunger Games forever, President Alma Coin uses Katniss as a beacon for hope. A reluctant Katniss has only one thing on her mind, to save Peeta.

I have to be honest, I have always struggled with this movie, it isn't bad, I just wish they could have got the story done in one go, I like the second part, I find this first half too fleshed out, it lacks any real content. It does get going, but later on, it's all build up for the second.

The visuals are great, there are plenty of action sequences and explosions, and of course sets and costumes look great. Lawrence is very good once again, but the script doesn't offer her the range that Catching Fire did.

Julianne Moore was excellent as President Coin I thought, very strong performance.

I did enjoy that scene where Peeta turned, having been absent for most of the movie, it was good to see him put to good use.

I liked that there was a message at the end for Philip Seymour Hoffman, RIP.

6/10.

When it was first announced that Mockingjay was going to be split into two movies, I gawked. It's one book. How can there possibly be enough to fill two movies? It didn't help that my sister also found it weird, having read the book. She couldn't see any obvious place for the split. Despite what feels like everyone else on the internet is saying, I actually support the split now. Mockingjay marks a massive tonal shift in the franchise, so it would have been a bit jarring introducing this tonal shift for the final movie, leaving you no time to settle into the new status quo left from Catching Fire. The biggest reason for my support though is how rushed everything would have been. When a book is adapted into a movie, there are certain time constraints to be taken into account. That inevitably means things are cut, which leaves many fans unhappy with the final product. With Mockingjay they decided to give it time to flesh out the characters; give everyone a bit of limelight, expand on various elements in the book, and just generally make sure it doesn't frenetically jump from scene to scene or cut out important plot points. Having now scene Mockingjay Part 1, I can't imagine it being compressed into half the running time without sacrificing the emotional resonance or rushing through everything. The emotional resonance is the big selling point of Mockingjay. For some it might be seen as boring, drawn-out melodrama, but for me it made Mockingjay a darker, more harrowing movie than the previous two, which says a lot about a franchise hinging on a fight-to-the-death between children in order to keep the tyrannical dictatorship in place. Katniss has lost her district, lost Peeta, and now lives in hiding with a group of rebels intent on overthrowing the Capitol. To not dwell on how that affects her and the people around her would have been a massive misstep. The franchise needed to slow down and focus on the characters. To say it's only half a movie is misinformation as well. It feels like a complete movie, at least more complete than Catching Fire ever did. As I mentioned, Peeta is kept prisoner by the Capitol, and he's being used as a propaganda weapon in response to Katniss' propaganda by the rebels. The whole plot of the movie is about this cat and mouse of propaganda as the two opposing sides try to get an upper hand on the people of Panem. The big final climax feels like the big final climax of a story, bringing this cat and mouse to an end. It's final moments are a resolution to the beginning and middle, and in that respect it absolutely has all three acts. Of course it has a cliffhanger moment right before the credits to segue into the next movie, but so did Catching Fire (and Desolation of Smaug, and Fast & Furious 6, and every Marvel movie etc. etc.) Everything else ticks all the right boxes as well; the acting is top-notch, especially from Jennifer Lawrence and Philip Seymour Hoffman (with a little memoriam for him in the credits). The visuals are on the nail. District 12 is now depicted in ruins, the CGI of the various ships and futuristic cityscape of the Capitol is flawless. There was also some fantastic use of CGI on Josh Hutcherson to make him look progressively thinner and beaten up as the movie goes along, showing the torture he must have been enduring. The musical score is fantastic, with the Mockingjay theme coming well and truly into it's element, as well as a fully fledged song that brings the rebellion to full strength in the propaganda war. Mockingjay proves that milking extra movies out of a franchise doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing (looking at you, Desolation of Smaug). It slows the franchise down and gives you time to breathe before the big conclusion next year, injecting plenty of heartfelt emotion to the whole situation, fleshing out the world, developing the characters etc. However it's not without it's higher-octane moments. There's a number of action scenes despite it's calmer narrative, which expand what was in the book to blistering effect (the fantastically suspenseful climax is apparently just a few lines in the book, largely glossed over). It's tense, unpredictable, emotional, yet has it's light-hearted moments. I give Mockingjay Part 1 a very good 8/10. It's made me very excited for next year when I can marathon the whole franchise in one go.

This is not the mediocre first two movies that were a fun-filled joy ride in the spirit of Running Man, Battle Royale or Blood of Heroes. This is a realistic version instead, with a character-motive driven plot. Unlike the first two films this one actually matters. I hope the creators of this film are proud of their accomplishment. Instead of a cheesy thrill ride we have been introduced to the realities of war and rebellion and we were given good acting, good screen writing and characters we can identify with and care about. After watching hundreds of movies in the post apocalyptic genre this one stands out as significantly better than the others, especially the first two films. Thank you for making the Hunger Games series into something meaningful.

The Hunger Games story continues with the third installation, Mockingjay. And it's about as padded and needlessly long as every other two-parter we've had since the studio executives came up with this money-grabbing monstrosity of an idea.

Not to say you shouldn't see this one if you've liked the previous Hunger Games films. This continues the story just fine. Jennifer Lawrence still shines as Katniss Everdeen. Her presence and talent hold us through even through scenes you instantly recognize as needless padding and waste of our money. The returning cast is also as talented as they've always been and most of the new characters are also casted without hitches. Julianne Moore is perhaps a bit too... Julianne Moore to play President Coin 100 percent convincingly, but she has certain presence as well, that cannot be denied.

What bugs me is the story. The book itself was the weakest of the trilogy, though not by much, and it seems that its faults bleed into the film. Especially because the iron tight pace of the previous installations is thrown straight out of the window and we spent most of our time building up atmosphere. And building. And building. And... You get the point. There's very little bang for your buck here and even when something substantial happens, it simply lacks that edge.

Plus, they had the perfect closing scene, and for some reason they decided to keep going for about five minutes. Trust me, you know where they should have ended it when you've seen the movie.

This is a good movie. It still looks great, the main actors are brilliant and it has enough depth to impress through its story alone. I just wish they had had the integrity to go with one movie. It very well might have been the best Hunger Games movie of the three. It would have had two movies before it to build up momentum and steam. Instead it lifts up the pedal from the gas and decides to stroll over the finish line. Poor form, extremely poor form.

Quickie Review:

After the events of 75th Hunger Games, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) is rescued and brought to District 13 where the rebellion is brewing. Now she must become the face of the rebellion as both sides use propaganda against each other. Meanwhile, Katniss is overwhelmed by balancing her responsibility to the people of Panem with her desire to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). Mockingjay Part 1 is strong when it comes to the acting talent involved and showing the behinds the scenes propaganda of war. However, the decision to split the story into two parts has really hurt this movie by making it feel incomplete and filled with overstretched melodrama. While it is not a complete failure, it may be better to hold off watching this movie till Part 2 is released.

Full Review:

I never read the books but I enjoyed the last two movies in the franchise, especially Catching Fire. While I can't say I was aching to go see Mockingjay Part 1, I was interested to know how the story progressed after the cliff-hanger of the last movie. I was concerned that splitting the story into two parts may have been a detrimental choice, unfortunately my concerns were legitimate.

I know I'm coming off really negative but there are definitely some gems in the movie. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss and Donald Sutherland as President Snow, were the best part of the movie. Watching them clash and play strategic moves against each other was intriguing. The rest of the cast do a good job in showing how they have been affected and changed by this war. This is the first time we see the world outside of the actual Hunger Games and District 12, which helped enrich this movie's universe. Uniquely we get see how propaganda plays an important role in the war. I can't remember the last war movie that delved into that aspect. On top of that, these propaganda pieces were very moving thanks to the rage fueled words of Katniss and the fear mongering of Snow.

A lot of the problems for this movie stem from the fact we are spending 2hrs on half a story. This led to us having an entire movie where Katniss keeps crying and moping about either Peeta or the people of District 12 being dead. The feeling that the movie is overstretched is only compounded by how several scenes are just a rehash of a previous scene, for example the recording of a propaganda (3 times) and multiple scenes per character sulking about the people suffering. Look I'm not heartless, I understand those are devastating things to happen to a person, but we want to see the story move forward. I can honestly say that apart from Katniss becoming the face of the rebellion, there is no significant plot development since Catching Fire. There is all this slow build up but that's all it is, a build up to an end that is unsatisfying. Essentially this is a 2hr preview ad for Mockingjay Part 2, and quite frankly I felt mad about this when I left the cinema, and that doesn't happen often.

The pathetic cash-grab moves by studios to split the movie into two parts is the root of all the problems for Mockingjay Part 1. To fill the run time the movie is stuffed full with melodrama without much weight to make you care for long. All the momentum that the previous two movies had built has now come to a dull crawl. I'd recommend skipping this movie till Part 2 is released and hopefully enjoy a more complete story.

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