Review: 'Mockingjay' Brings 'The Hunger Games' Into A New, Different Arena

Adam Reynoso ’15 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Based on the trailers alone, it’s clear that the third film in The Hunger Games series, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, takes the films away from the games and heads straight into the revolution glimpsed at the end of the second film Catching Fire. Without the games more characters really shine, and the shake-up to the format also allows the film to explore the aspects of war and rebellion that set the stage for the final film.
One of the most impressive feats of the film has to be how director Francis Lawrence and co. managed to make a breathtaking spectacle of the first half of the book. Sometimes when the adaptation of a popular book series splits the final book, it means sacrificing a lot of action and spend maybe too much time stretching out the insignificant details. It’s a trap that’s been hard to avoid in the past couple of years, but Mockingjay Part 1 manages to do so by showing certain events that were only briefly mentioned in the books. This made the impact of what was going on hit that much harder.
As always, Jennifer Lawrence plays the role of Katniss perfectly. The hardest part about the role this time around is the fact that the third book spends a lot of time in her head as she’s struggling with becoming the symbol of the rebellion and really stepping up as a leader. Lawrence displays these conflicts with ease, most notably when she first sees Peeta or during the entire hospital sequence. It was refreshing to really see the character still cope with the events of the last film and fighting back. The anger she showed in the closing moments of Catching Fire are very present in this film as well.

With the settings of the movie having moved from the arena to the underground base of District 13, it also signaled the arrival of another batch of new characters. The biggest new arrival comes in the form of President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore). The character comes off as a wary leader who is really putting her people first. It takes a while for her warm up to Katniss and Moore succeeds at making her a hardened, determined leader. There was one moment at the end that seemed to show a slightly darker side to her, but it could just be the desire to take down the Capitol.
Cressida (Natalie Dormer), a reporter working on propaganda for the rebellion, easily fits into the movie’s world. While she didn’t have a huge role, her screentime with both Katniss and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) still stood out as she was determined to capture the two heroes in the action. Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) continued her character’s development as she was finally in on what was going on and was now a part of the rebellion, even if it might not have been on her own terms. While she has plenty of one liners, it’s her connection with Katniss that always shines. And lastly, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman sold the Plutarch character. He was shown to really have faith in Katniss and also provided a bit of comic relief.

The film as a whole finds a good balance between the action and drama. Much of the two hours running time is spent seeing District 13 find a way to ignite the rebellion and also figure out how to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), Johanna (Jena Malone) and Annie (Stef Dawson) from the Capitol. While the series hasn’t exactly been the happiest of films, this entry is without a doubt the bleakest. Specifically, seeing the degradation of Peeta as he’s held in the Capitol and made to speak out in favor of the Capitol on camera is heartbreaking. It really adds to the ending and how things unfold. As for the action, once the film looks at the battlefield that has become the districts, the sequences are excellent. In particular, an attack in the woods is one of the most satisfying acts of rebellion, especially against the Peacekeepers.
As a precursor to a guaranteed explosive conclusion of the series, Mockingjay Part 1 delivers an invigorating start. With standout performances from the entire cast, the series is continuing its tour de force and shows no signs of stopping. Much like the ending the of the last film, Mockingjay Part 1‘s finale reflects just how much has changed over the last three films and how each character is facing their biggest challenges going into Mockingjay: Part 2.
Overall Grade: A-

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