The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (***)
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh
Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Philip Seymour
Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci, Natalie Dormer, Sam
Claflin, Willow Shields, Jena Malone
Seen: November 21st 2014
*** Out of ****
First, the irony. The Hunger Games is
based on a trilogy of books telling an entertaining story while also delivering
scathing comment on our entertainment culture and our lavish excesses. So it
only makes sense to split the third book into two movies to make more money,
right?
That said, The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay - Part 1 is, apart from being a little thin in plot (it’s based on
approximately the first quarter of the third book), a pretty good movie. And
it’s a great lead-in to the rest of the story, setting the stage for the last
book’s tense, inventive, and larger than life ending. Fingers are crossed for
another achievement like the second movie, last year’s The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire was a brilliant recreation of the second book.
After the events of Catching Fire,
Katniss (Lawrence) is taken to the hidden District 13, where Plutarch
Heavensbee (Hoffman) and President Coin (Moore) asks her to become the
Mockingjay, the public face of the Resistance. Katniss is traumatised by events
of the 75th Hunger Games, and cites their failure to save Peeta
(Hutcherson) as reason for refusing to comply. Heavensbee thinks she needs to
be shocked, and suggests she visits the ruins of District 12, her home, to see
the Capitol’s evil. The ruins deeply disturbs her and after seeing Peeta on
Capitol television, used as a propaganda tool, Katniss agrees to become the
Mockingjay.
Katniss isn’t what the Resistance sought,
as she isn’t truly convincing. Haymitch (Harrelson) realises Katniss’
efficiency as the Mockingjay will be realised when her natural reactions are
seen, and they head for a District 8 hospital, hoping this will spur her into
appropriate response for the campaign. The Capitol gets wind and bombs the
hospital in an attempt at Katniss’ life. She survives, and her reaction is
perfect – the Resistance have their Mockingjay. Peeta is used by the Capitol as
the Resistance uses Katniss, and when Peeta manages to warn District 13 of an
attack in time, on Capitol television, Coin authorizes a rescue mission for
Peeta, Johanna (Malone), and Finnick’s (Claflin) girlfriend Annie. What they
return with makes for a stark reminder that the Capitol must fall, and sets the
stage for the final showdown.
The movie is, like the first two
Hunger Games movies, well produced and impressively staged. It’s darker than
its predecessors, and while everything looks good and contextually intact, I
assume the final movie will be much more of a visual spectacle. The entire cast
make you believe in the characters, with Lawrence again showing us why she has
an Oscar. Philip Seymour Hoffman continues to entertain after his sad death in
February, effectively leading the supporting cast and the drive to grow Katniss
as the Mockingjay. There is one hauntingly beautiful moment; Katniss sings the
song “The Hanging Tree”, lifting the entire movie and it becomes the movie’s
centrepiece for establishing the revolution to come.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
is, overall, not as good as the previous Hunger Games movies, but it features
some of the strongest acting you are likely to see in this series. This movie
is necessary and still entertaining in its own right if you intend to ride out
this revolution come November 2015 with Part 2, which promises to be massive.
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