The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 Reviews

To be honest, I have always been rather skeptical about this franchise but, I have to admit it, the first two installments were actually fairly entertaining. Yet, since I knew that this 3rd movie would focus on some rebellion instead of the actual games, I was a little bit worried and I had once again some rather low expectations. Eventually, I was once again positively surprised. Basically, the thing I enjoyed the most was the ambiguity they gave to the main character's situation. Indeed, it seems that, after all, she pretty much traded a bizarre circus for another one and, even though, those rebels will tell you that they are the good guys, eventually, how would you know if they won't be starting another dictatorship to replace the older one? The main issue was that even though Katniss seemed a little bit hesitating, no one else was, so there was no much room to develop this. And, once again, even though they tried to convince us that this girl was totally badass, she was still pretty much a powerless puppet in my opinion. To conclude, my rating might be rather generous this time, I really wonder if the ending chapter will be really satisfaying, but this blockbuster was fairly enjoyable and I think it is worth a look.

"Se noi bruciamo, voi bruciate con noi"
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I have been wanting to check this out for awhile now, but I wasn't able to for the longest time. Francis Lawrence returns to direct the 3rd installation to the ever popular series. The second one felt a lot like the first one. So the first half of that had been boring where the second half was where the fun happened. I'm hoping this has action throughout it's entirety. It's pretty cool to see that this is written by Danny Strong who was on Buffy. I do hear a lot how this is the worse of the series so far, but it's mostly likely due to them splitting this and putting the bigger chunk of carnage in the second part. I always find it funny when a decent actor has to pretend like they can't act. Elizabeth Banks without all the crazy makeup and stuff looks much more attractive and interesting in my opinion. As I sit here watching this I realize even more similarities with Battle Royal. The leads start a revolution that is against the violent "games" after winning in their first tournament. Oh well I still love the brutal concept. The only think that I wish they did like the Battle Royal films is that they don't take too long to get to the middle of things. Anyways back to the movie. It's good to see that they bring the action sooner than the previous films although I had begun to wonder. It had a few pretty good twists and turns. It could of had a bit more action, but I was satisfied enough with what we got. I sure do hate cliffhanger movie endings though. Anyhow I actually really liked this one from start to finish.

Pros:
-It pulls the action in quicker
-Better than the previous film (in my opinion)
-All the returning characters of course
-Some pretty good and somewhat brutal action scenes
-Natalie Dormer and Robert Knepper are in it!

Cons:
-Not a big fan of Julianne Moore or Mahershala Ali
-Cliffhanger ending obviously
-Character deaths off-screen before the film
-It's the shortest by 20 minutes (which is silly since it's a 2 parter I would have expected a bit longer)

It was a good entry into the saga. I'm looking forward in anticipation to see how everything pulls together in the next one. I'm also hoping to see quite a few important albeit truly heart-wrenching death scenes.

"I have a message for President Snow: You can torture or bombed us, blasted our district to the grounds. But do you see that ? Fire Is Catching... If we burn, you burn with us!"

2014's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is the first instalment in the Hunger Games series that can rightfully be labelled as a bad movie... and that's disappointing. 2012's The Hunger Games was deeply flawed but retained some merit, whereas its follow-up, Catching Fire, was a borderline masterpiece, turning the so-so franchise into something special. Alas, all the goodwill instilled by Catching Fire is drained for part three, a painfully leaden experience which stretches maybe twenty minutes of narrative material into an interminable two-hour motion picture. Despite the return of competent action director Francis Lawrence, and despite the generous budget, there's not much here of any value. Plus, this is the first Hunger Games feature without an actual games.

Awakening in a subterranean hospital, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is inducted into the underground realm of District 13, which has survived in secret for decades under the control of President Alma (Julianne Moore) and propagandist Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), amassing weaponry and soldiers in preparation for the inevitable conflict with The Capitol for control of Panem. With the uprising taking shape, Katniss is asked to become the face of the rebellion that seeks to unite the districts. However, her would-be boyfriend Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) has become a prisoner at The Capitol, with the sinister President Snow (Donald Sutherland) employing him in an ominous propaganda mission designed to break Katniss' spirit and extinguish the revolution.

Splitting a novel into two motion pictures can allow creative breathing room in some instances, but in the case of Mockingjay, the decision was clearly made purely for financial reasons. Like Twilight and Harry Potter, the studio heads want to milk the series for all the money that it's worth, even if such a decision comes at the expense of economical storytelling and effective pacing. In order to convert one half of the novel into a feature-length movie, director Lawrence and screenwriters Peter Craig and Danny Strong strive to more or less cover every single corner of Suzanne Collins' tome, which might please die-hard literary fans, but it leaves the rest of us bored out of our skulls. Mockingjay slows the franchise to a halt; this entire first part amounts to a repetitive succession of scenes observing the daily drudgery in an underground bunker, with the characters itching to overthrow President Snow. But instead of anything cinematically interesting, the movie is full of scenes of characters sitting, watching TV, walking around, marching down stairs, and so on. With no payoff to speak of, Mockingjay - Part 1 is a sluggish bore that only leaves you feeling resoundingly unsatisfied.

Surprisingly, there's not a great deal of visual flair to the production, which feels pretty cheap all-round even though it was more expensive than superior movies like Gravity. Mockingjay - Part 1 is the first in the series to be lensed digitally, whereas the first two instalments were blessed with 35mm photography, which gives it a less expensive look right off the bat. Couple this with Lawrence's drab direction and the meandering script, and Mockingjay is a slog, in dire need of snappier pacing, a more intense sense of anticipation, and some style. Movies like Children of Men have shown that desolation and destruction can be photographed in an artistic, visually engaging fashion, but this is lacking in Mockingjay, which greatly detracts from the production.

Jennifer Lawrence is a gifted actress by all accounts, but even she struggles with the wafer-thin material, relegated to a performance of sobs and pouts, punctuated with a minor action scene. It's no fault of Lawrence's, but there's nothing of the fiery, passionate heroine here that made the initial films so engaging. The rest of the cast is populated with fine thespians, and they all acquit themselves respectably, but none of them are able to truly captivate here, which is again a knock against the movie itself rather than the actors. With that said, though, the film does have its moments - Katniss visiting her desecrated district is a highlight, while a few late action beats do their best to bring the picture out of its cinematic coma. Outside of this, the movie does have a few interesting scenes portraying the propaganda aspect of this uprising, with Katniss a hesitant icon. But such moments would be better-utilised in a more cohesive adaptation which actually has an ending.

Perhaps the most irksome thing to note about Mockingjay - Part 1 is that it's difficult to muster up much of an opinion about it. It's so flat, boring and one-note all the way through to its core, and makes absolutely no impact at the end of the day. Giving this story so much breathing room only serves to highlight how one-dimensional the characters are, and how flat the central love triangle truly is. There isn't even much of a cliffhanger here - Catching Fire concluded with a real stringer that heightened anticipation for the next instalment, but Mockingjay - Part 1 closes with a whimper that fails to ignite interest in the forthcoming Part 2. Fingers crossed the franchise does conclude with some dignity.

4.2/10

Let me deflate any false hope by starting this review with the following sentence: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay does not need to be two movies. I left Mockingjay Part 1 with the expected interest in the final installment (due to be released next year around the same time), but fairly surprised at how little ground this penultimate chapter covers, despite its two hour length. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, despite my mixed to negative feelings on the films, certainly warranted two parts. Peter Jackson's 3 movie adaptions of the 300 page novel are the source of much controversy, but I feel there is effort to make the movies feel as complete and eventful as possible. No such effort was made with Mockingjay Part 1; an entertaining threequel, but ultimately, an almost completely inconsequential one.

Katniss Everdeen is now living in District 13, a place that was unknown to most before now. Katniss now must work with those in District 13 to fuel and lead a massive revolution against the Capitol. All the while, Katniss wonders what has become of Peeta, who has fallen into the hands of the Capitol, and is under taxing and mysterious circumstances.

The short review of Mockingjay Part 1 is this: The movie is entertaining. It moves along at an agreeable pace, gives us some snippets of what made the previous films so engrossing, and provides some excellent performances. Its flaws are numerous, but the movie works well enough to satisfy fans.

And that last point leads right into my longer review of the film. Mockingjay Part 1 will certainly please its loyal followers. But if you've failed to find yourself engaged, interested, or entertained by the events and characters from the previous films, you won't find any improvements here. Catching Fire (Mockingjay's predecessor) managed to convert the naysayers and unsatisfied moviegoers that were disappointed by the first Hunger Games movie (helmed by Gary Ross). Don't expect any such conversions to occur here.

One of Mockingjay's most surprising problems is its conflicting messages. When Peeta shows up on Capitol talk shows, telling District 13 to cease their revolution (not a spoiler, this is in the promotional material), Katniss defends Peeta by insisting that he's only saying and doing these things to stay alive. Yet, Katniss (and many others) have no problem shooting down Capitol soldiers with explosive arrows (witnessed quite prominently in the trailers).

Even more disturbing is the amount of attention that is given to Katniss' boyfriend situation. Will she choose to love Peeta or Gale? Not only are Katniss' intentions here ridiculously obvious, but the amount of time that's spent on this love triangle effectively trivializes the horror of what's going on in the Capitol. Was not the point and source of controversy surrounding the Hunger Games was how casually those in the Capitol accepted it? To them, it's just a TV show. A source of entertainment. By placing so much focus on the romance between Katniss and Peeta/Gale, is the movie then succumbing to the very same sense of morals that our audience is supposed to associate with the Capitol?

Even if the amount of screentime devoted to the love triangle was justified, it's still inept. It's uninteresting, and sometimes laughable. It isn't cringe-worthy to the same degree as the other Hunger Games films, but I still wish it had less screentime, if any at all. I question the need for a romantic interest in these films at all, but as long as it gets butts into seats, I suppose it can be considered necessary. If nothing else, one should give the Hunger Games series credit for attempting to address difficult questions and challenging substance, and presenting it to a teenage audience. While the love angle of this is obnoxious, it's a source of interest for many teenage girls. In the end, I'm glad that these movies can attract a mainstream audience, even if we do have to pay a hefty price in the form of poorly written "romance."

Many will point to Jennifer Lawrence as the strongest cast member. And indeed, she's great here, though she has much less to work with than before. But the real star is Donald Sutherland as President Snow. While his time on screen is a lot smaller than in the previous films, the scenes he has are fantastic. At times, Sutherland is absolutely chilling. The rest of the cast sparkles, excepting the expressionless Liam Hemsworth (though Josh Hutcherson has notably improved). Critics inevitably highlight Philip Seymour Hoffman's supporting role in this film due to his unfortunate death earlier this year, but his performance is good enough that it would deserve recognition regardless.

James Newton Howard's score here is actually weaker than his previous efforts (though there's not very much music in the picture). While some will appreciate the occasional moments of grandeur that was rarely achieved in the previous films, Newton Howard's work here lacks the memorable quality of the previous scores. One song that's featured very prominently in the film (and is sung by Lawrence's character in a mildly ghastly part of the film) feels surprisingly rock-oriented, and isn't as effective as one would hope or expect.

Mockingjay Part 1's biggest problem truly is its lack of events. Very little of the film advances the overall scheme of things. The film sustains interest, but there's no real sense of tension until the last hour (and no particularly important events until the last 30 minutes). The sparsely used moments of government oppression and abuse feel more like afterthoughts than impacting shock points. After two excellent movies, audiences have a right to expect a third entry of the same quality. However, Mockingjay Part 1 is hindered by its weak source material and its "placeholder" role in the franchise which prevents almost anything from happening. As a fan, I liked this film as much as I could. But as a movie goer, I was disappointed.