Film Review -- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

Directed by Francis Lawrence, the film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Julianne Moore, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Elizabeth Banks, and Woody Harrelson. After the dramatic end to her second Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) is taken in, along with the other survivors of the now-decimated District 12, by District 13 and its charismatic president, Alma Coin (Moore). Soon, she finds herself as the reluctant symbol of a mounting rebellion by the districts against the Capitol, and represents their only hope for unity and any chance of succeeding. As she progressively embraces the cause and the role she is given in it, Katniss must confront the reality that her participation in this war possibly means sacrificing Peeta's life, as he was taken hostage and tortured by the Capitol as a means to deter Katniss from assuming the role of the Mockingjay. The film is an adaptation of the first part of the final book in a trilogy; a ploy, undoubtedly, designed to maximize the profit of a highly successful franchise. This, however, created significant problems in storytelling and plot development. When I read the third book, I thought it could have easily been adapted into a single film, so the material had to be stretched pretty thin in order to produce two two-hour films, and the result is an action film with not much action in it. The far too many shots of scenery and facial expressions, obviously included just to fill time, created an overall pace and tone to the film that wasn't exciting or suspenseful, but just pretty boring. The problem, for me, wasn't with the script - I thought it was well done, just as in the first two films, as it remained reasonably faithful to its source material - but rather with the need to have divided the third book into two separate films. What could have been an excellent concluding chapter was instead unnecessarily split into two weak pieces in the name of monetary profit. Was the film still an above average young adult sci-fi film? Yes. Could it have been significantly better? Absolutely.

Should you see it: Yes
Grade: B-