The Hunger Games- Mockingjay, Part One:
After the end of the last film, Katniss has been taken in by an underground resistance group in the demolished District 13. Katniss is being groomed to be their "mockingjay", or a figurehead/martyr for their revolution. Katniss is reluctant at first, but agrees on the basis that she can soon rescue her friend/love interest Peeta from the Capitol, who are using him as their political puppet. President Snow begins to try and crush the resistance through propaganda pieces and bombings, and uses Peeta as his weapon against the resistance.
I have to say I was a lot more pleased with this film than any previous entry. I think, despite it dragging its' feet in many places, was a lot more emotionally engrossing and thrilling than the previous two films. It had a lot more emphasis on propaganda and its' effective use as a psychological weapon, which was something the Hunger Games had teased at, but never really touched on before. This is the first time in any of these movies I was actually invested in the climax and what was happening, even though I knew that Katniss was going to live through any obstacles in the film.
Speaking of Katniss, Jennifer Lawrence is still really good in this entry, although to be honest I found her to be the least interesting character. I also found her character very irritating because instead of just letting a scene play, the writers felt as though Katniss had to make commentary on every single scene she's in, as if to tell the audience what's going on. Josh Hutcherson is good as Peeta, despite having a significantly downplayed role in this one, and Liam Hemsworth is...there as Gale. I'm not saying he can't be an okay actor, but in this film there just wasn't much going on with him. Donald Sutherland is still a pretty threatening presence as Snow, who I really like as a villain. Hands-down, best character in the the movie. Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, and Philip Seymour Hoffman reprise their roles as Haymitch, Effie, and Plutarch, respectively. The film is dedicated to Hoffman's memory, and I'm not sure how they are going to work around his untimely death in the next film. They all do great and are some of the most entertaining and impactful characters in the series. Julianne Moore joins the cast as President Coin, the resistance leader. She can be cold and unsympathetic, but, in the end, I was on her side because she's a resistance leader, and ultimately, it's the leaders who always make the tough decisions, so I forgave her jadedness. Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones, The Tudors) is, in my opinion, wasted as a character here. She plays Cressida, a propaganda director from the Capitol who fled to join the resistance. Dormer is an underrated actress, and I was glad to here she'd be exposed to a new audience in a major franchise to get her name out there. But then when I saw the film, I realized she was basically playing the character where after the movie everyone just sort of goes "she was alright I guess". Her character is just sort-of there. I hope she gets more to do next time around, especially considering every ad she appears on shows her holding a gun, and yet she holds no such weapon in the film. Sam Claflin and Jena Malone return as Finnick and Joanna, and Jeffrey Wright as Beetee. Stanley Tucci is a little less over-the-top as Caesar, but still very comical and flamboyant. Wes Chatham and Elden Henson appear as two of Cressida's helpers, Castor and Pollux. Overall, I'd say the cast is solid in this film, with my only real issue being that the film suffers from having too many characters, as some just get lost in the fray.
The special effects and visuals of the films (that includes sets, props, and costumes) are incredible, and take a lot from other films and books and such but never fell too much like a rip-off. The music in the film is pretty bland (sorry, James Newton Howard), but the ending song ("Yellow Flicker Beat" by Lorde) is pretty cool and captures the tone of the movie pretty closely.
My main problems with the film is the previously mentioned dragging of the feet at some portions, but also the aforementioned Katniss problem. It's mostly a problem with her character, but a few others, too. It's that instead of just letting a scene play out and the actor's expressions let us know how they fell, the writers often felt the need to have Katniss explain how everything was going. I'm going to give an example, so SPOILER Warning if you don't want to know: Peeta appears on TV several times puppeting the Capitol's demands for an end to the war. The second time he appears, Peeta is obviously not doing well: his eyes have dark circles, his face is more gaunt, and his voice more somber. These are things the audience can pick up on visually and audibly, But Katniss feels the need to just say them out loud for that odd guy out there who just can't figure it out (i.e. "Oh my God, he's so different, even his voice his different, he's so thin, look at his eyes..."). She does this a number of times on a few occasions. There's also a scene, (another Spoiler alert), where she thinks she's lost both Gale and Peeta. She instantly breaks down in tears, the perfect way to play it, and then starts talking. "Have I lost them both tonight?! Have I lost them both?!" Just overkill with the dialogue. Film is a visual medium, treat it as such. Not every line from the book needs to be in there, because books require you to describe the characters and surroundings; in movies, we can see with our own eyes! It's an issue I see many films face these days- overwhelmed by unnecessary dialogue that could be conveyed through an image or an expression. The film also feels a bit cheesy or sentimental at times, with plenty of fan service (i.e. Katniss doing bad-ass things when the situation doesn't really need it, and rousing scenes of the resistance being victorious).
On the positive, I can respect this film (and this series in general) for putting Lionsgate back on the map. Lionsgate was once a small independent company, but in 2004, a little horror film/sleepr hit called Saw put it on the map. But eight years later, the series had ended and the cheap horror/action film thing wasn't working for them anymore. Then, after procuring the rights to The Hunger Games and Divergent, they became a major studio, competing with the likes of Warner Bros., Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Universal, and Disney. That's a true success story.
But back on to the actual film at hand, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1 is a surprisingly entertaining film with some flaws that aren't quite as glaring as in previous entries. With some great supporting actors, a huge cast of characters, cool visuals, and an intense climactic sequence, I must say this is the best of the series. 4/5 stars.
(Image: Wikipedia)
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