Review - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

The series has featured two Hunger Games battles in the first two films, but alas - there will be know formal "Hunger Games" in this film. This is all about revolution.

As we pick up on the series, Katniss is in the heart of the revolution, District 13. It's here that she has been brought since she abruptly left the last Hunger Games and after some time has passed, she's ready to be pitched on a new role.

The Districts have found someone they can relate to in Katniss. She is strong, defiant, and oh so
real...and the Districts love her.

She hesitates when presented with an option, become the Mockingjay and help lead the revolution against the Capitol.

Struggling with her anger over the results of the Quarter Quell, she longs to have Peeta by her side...even if it would mean she wasn't alive. While she does have Gale and her sister and mom, the emptiness that comes with Peeta being left behind consumes her. But as Prim tells her...she has a lot more power than she has ever imagined.

Filled with that knowledge, Katniss agrees to become the Mockingjay with the agreement of District 13 President Alma Coin to rescue Peeta along with Johanna and Annie at the first chance they get. Now, as she starts to see the devastation caused by the Capitol in her old District 12 home, along with witnessing a callous disregard for life on up close and personal level, she agrees and the battle begins.

First the battle will be fought for the hearts and minds of the outlying districts, but it's only a matter of time before they will all need to confront the Capitol head on.

The journey, while rough, sets up like the early, background knowledge necessary to set the table for an incredible climax. I can't wait to see where Part 2 goes...but that said...I'm looking at THIS film here.

The feeling of this is quite dry and I found myself leafing through the film like a new book that I just didn't get entirely connected with. Much of the film is used to set the background for the revolution. What has been going on in the districts since the last games, and even before then. Relationships are forged and some start to fizzle...but there are people you care for in the film that don't generate the connection that we felt in the first two films.

The action felt interrupted and almost like an add on to make sure we stay involved as we move forward. It lacked the true intensity that had hallmarked the series.

That all said - it was far from an awful ride. I still care about Katniss and the revolution. I love to see the growth of Katniss as se becomes the person who will awaken the Districts. And I think Jennifer Lawrence still brings all of that to the screen. Lawrence is a true gem here and I can only imagine the conclusion.

The key is the film left me wanting, it didn't fill my hunger at all, an maybe that's a good thing. But in our microwave society, where we want everything now...and lots of it, will it be worth the wait to close the book.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
Directed by Francis Lawrence

B-/C+

Cast: Katniss - Jennifer Lawrence, Peeta - Josh Hutcherson, Gale - Liam Hemsworth, Haymitch - Woody Harrelson, President Snow - Donald Sutherland, Plutarch - Philips Seymour Hoffman, President Alma Coin - Julianne Moore

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 opens in theaters everywhere on November 21, 2014