Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? No.
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? To understand Part 2 better, yes.
Secret ending? More like an Easter egg.
Running time: 123 minutes (~2 hours)
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” is a science fiction movie for young adults about a rebellion in a dystopian world. It is the third movie in the “Hunger Games” film franchise, and will be succeeded by the final movie, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2” next year. It stars Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark), Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne), Woody Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy), Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch Heavensbee), Julianne Moore (President Alma Coin), Donald Sutherland (President Snow), and Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman).
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” is, if the title weren’t obvious enough, the first half of the final part of the trilogy. The problem is that even without the glaring “Part 1” in the title, the whole movie feels like it’s a giant set up for a conflict that we won’t get to see until a year later. It lacks a resolution or any sort of catharsis, which just drives home the fact that yes, there is a second movie coming up. It’s not a movie that can stand by itself – you have to watch Part 2 next year if you don’t want to waste the money you spent on this.
Highlights
Julianne Moore’s performance as President Coin
Let’s face it, President Coin’s role is a thankless one. She can’t be the kind-hearted, likeable leader of the rebellion – that would make her too perfect. That means she has to be the hard, stern, unlikeable leader of the rebels to balance the fact that she’s on the morally upright faction. Yet Julianne Moore takes this one dimensional role and infuses it with so much character and depth.
You can see the burden that President Coin carries, how every decision weighs so heavily on her, and how difficult it is for her to hold everything together. Julianne Moore’s performance actually makes President Coin a sympathetic character instead of one we have mixed feelings about, and thus we’re rooting for her to win on a personal level.
Effie Trinket steals all her scenes
Despite her appearance being effectively neutered in this movie, Effie’s cattiness towards her situation is incredible entertaining. She definitely loathes her circumstances, but Effie shows incredible adaptability and still manages to thrive in this environment. Her sly comments and witty jibes make her the only character that doesn’t take herself too seriously in this film.
Letdowns
Katniss is too passive
Katniss does nothing to improve her situation in this film – events occur, and she reacts to them. It’s understood that this is the set up that will be paid off in next year’s film, but when a quarter of the film is dedicated just to convincing Katniss to go along with the film’s premise, it’s almost as if she’s too lethargic to win the war.
There’s no real plot
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” really takes its time to establish key scenes and exposition for you, to the extent of dropping a picturesque stream nearby every time there’re at rest. The overbearing symbolism aside, the film could have done with a little less talking and a little more doing. The entire plot is about making a corporate video for Katniss’ allies. Several of them, in fact. And not in a meta, philosophical way either.
There’s virtually no action
Besides some explosions, there are no action scenes. Katniss doesn’t fight anyone – she just fires a few arrows. A bombing scene later is depicted by shaky character shots, flickering lights, and screaming – but hardly any visuals of the actual bomb. Any less action and this would be a futuristic teen drama.
Honestly, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” isn’t bad, per se, it’s just that it wasn’t shot, directed, or even edited to be a complete and self-contained story by itself. It would be unfair to judge it as such. But when all the plot threads are going to be paid off only a year later (when you’ll probably have forgotten 90% of what happened), this film fills more like the boring textbook that you’ll need to sit through to understand next year’s film.
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” opens in cinemas 20 November, 2014 (Thursday).
This review was also published on Yahoo Movies Singapore.
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