The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Review

If you're set up to be one of the most anticipated films of the year, there's two things that you would do if you were smart; make it the best experience possible, and split it into two seperate movies. While the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 unfortunately succeeds at the latter, it somewhat fails at the former. The latest entry in the Hunger Games series falls short to its predecessors, which is evident shortly into the film. There is an extreme lack of action for a science-fiction WAR film, which instead turns it into something along the lines of a teen love triangle drama. The experience itself turns out to be more than it's worth, with the film being split into two separate parts, with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 coming later this year. Come to think of it, this has become a widely disliked trend in Hollywood recently, with most of these movies becoming known as shameless cash-grabs that could easily be made into a 3-hour movie instead of waiting another year or two for the next one to come out. Needless to say, Mockingjay: Part 1 has become one of these such movies, and only takes place during the first half of the book. And we all know what that means for sci-fi movies that are split into two parts; little to no action.

The official movie poster depicts an action-packed joyride, but looks can be deceiving.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 picks up where it's predecessor left off. Katniss Everdeen has been rescued from the 75th Hunger Games arena and has been taken to District 13, an underground city thought to be lost in a war long ago. Due to Katniss' actions in the previous films, District 13's President Coin hails Katniss as the perfect icon for the upcoming rebellion against the Capitol. Now known as the Mockingjay, Katniss begins a campaign to win over the hearts and minds of the rest of the districts, which in turn will lead to the uprising that will prove to be the Capitol's downfall.

I bet this all sounds like a lot of action, huh? It's not.

Mockingjay is sort of an Iron Man 2-esque movie; it's not focused enough on what it's supposed to be. Katniss' portrayed lover, Peeta Mellark, was captured by the Capitol during the events of Catching Fire, and her childhood friend from District 12, Gale Hawthorne, escaped to District 13 as well. Katniss is torn between these two (and so are the fangirls), and big chunks of the movie are focused around that. It's within reason to expect the whole love-triangle cliché in these type of movies, but it's scenes are so excessive that it takes away the true plot of the story at certain points. These scenes also give the movie a very slow pace, which is the direct opposite of what I was hoping for.

The survivors of District 8 salute the Mockingjay with the iconic three fingers that started it all.

All of this is not to say that the movie is BAD. This can still be a lovable film in many ways. All of the actor's performances were fantastic, with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman's role as ex-head-Game-Maker-under-cover Plutarch Heavensbee significantly standing out to me. Jennifer Lawrence is still nailing it as Katniss, and I especially love Haymitch Abernathy's character as Katniss' mentor and how Woody Harrelson portrayed him. However, I found that certain actor's characters are still somewhat lacking in character. For example, Gale's character is still very underdeveloped, and I felt like he was just there to fill the role of the "cute best friend of the main protagonist." I'm sure that all of the "Katniss x Gale" shippers out there will disagree with me, but he just didn't seem as important to the story than he did in the books. He does have a VERY important scene in the book that has yet to be covered in film however, so maybe when Part 2 releases in November, we'll see some tweaks to his and other actor's characters. The special effects are also very well made, despite not being used all the time.

District 5 rebels take down a Capitol dam. You can hear Lawrence's voice singing "The Hanging Tree" in the background. This is one of the few action sequences in the entire movie, but it really shows off the magnificent special effects.

The iconic poem written by Suzanne Collins herself. The Lumineers of "Ho Hey" fame provided the eerie background music for this addicting track.

At the end of the day, Mockingjay Part 1 fails and succeeds at a number of things. I walked into the theater with high expectations, and I was somewhat disappointed. A severe lack of action scenes makes the film seem slow-moving and lazy. However, I must add that when the occasional action scene did appear, it did not disappoint. In my opinion, the best part is when Katniss visits the ruins of District 12, and sings "The Hanging Tree" which continues as a voice-over for a District 5 demolition team destroying a dam that supplies the Capitol with power. This scene is probably the most iconic scene in the entire series, and I encourage you to find the scene and experience it for yourself. The acting performances are fantastic, but several characters need some more work done before they come back for the big finale. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 releases on November 20, and despite Part 1's various issues, I'll be first in line to see if they've built upon their mistakes and made a truly spectacular ending to an amazing trilogy. All it needs is a little more action and character development.

The Good:

+Acting is the best in the series thus far

+Truly well made action sequences, despite the scenes themselves being extremely lacking

+Amazing special effects

The Bad:

-Slow pace

-Shortage on action sequences

-Some characters are somewhat underdeveloped

-The "two-part-film" concept turns out as nothing more than a cash-grab

Final rating: 6.5 out of 10