THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - Part 1

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

Grade: B

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Willow Shields, Donald Sutherland, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, and Jeffrey Wright; also Featuring Mahershala Ali as Boggs, Natalie Dormer as Cressida, Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman and Paula Malcolmson as Katniss’ mother

Premise: Now a resident of the long-hidden District 13, famous but shell-shocked Katniss Everdeen tries to decide whether or not to become the face and mouthpiece of a fierce, end-all rebellion.

Rated PG-13 for thematic material including disturbing images and some blood, intense action, scary moments, and some language

There is a scene in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 that will blow you away.

Yes, Mockingjay is overall an effective, dutiful adaptation of the first half of the third and final book of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy, but there is one scene in particular audiences will leave the theater talking about. I’m not going to reveal what happens in that scene, but you’ll know it when you see it. This scene is noteworthy not only for its startling immediacy (even those who’ve read the book and have been awaiting the scene will be surprised) but also that it suddenly makes what has, for nearly two hours, been a pretty-good movie, a Must-Watch movie. This breathless intensity is carried the rest of the way, making one rather wish the end credits could be staved off a little longer.

If Mockingjay had been that good all the way, it would have been a pretty great film. As it is, it’s a good movie and an effective link in the series chain (both readers and non-readers will be able to follow along), but it is without question the weakest installment so far.

Plot    

**Note: Those who have not seen the previous movies (or read the books) are urged to do so before seeing Mockingjay, as it picks up within days of the end of the previous installment, last year’s Catching Fire.**

There is still a District Thirteen after all. Though every citizen in the futuristic nation of Panem knows District Thirteen was bombed to smithereens by the air forces of the oppressive Capitol, it turns out that was only on the surface. The survivors remained and thrived, building a huge, technologically-advanced underground fortress with the means to sustain a population. The leader of this regimented, highly-disciplined society is President Alma Coin (series newcomer Julianne Moore). Her right hand is former Head Gamekeeper and Capitol bigwig Plutarch Heavensbee (the late Philip Seymour Hoffman). They’ve got armies of soldiers and pilots, an arsenal of explosives, a whole fleet of attacking aircraft, and they’ve got word that people in many of Panem’s remaining districts are ready to mobilize against the Capitol. But they need something to unite and inspire them all.

The something could be the “Girl on Fire”, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), the Hunger Games champion who made the mockingjay bird a mascot of sorts for the rebellion. But Katniss is in a state of emotional and psychological turmoil after two trips to the killing-contest Hunger Games, particularly her second trip, which ended with her being rescued from an exploding arena by the rebels while her friend and some-time love interest Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) was captured and imprisoned by the Capitol. She’s still got friends and allies around for support, like her longtime friend Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and her sweetie-pie little sister, Prim (Willow Shields), but she’s sick at heart imagining Peeta being interrogated and tortured by the minions of President Snow (Donald Sutherland), the dark-hearted leader of Panem. Barely out of the hospital after being stabbed and electrocuted during her last Games, Katniss is soon approached by Coin and Heavensbee, who ask if she’s willing to take on the mantle of Mockingjay, the larger-than-life figure who’s inner strength and defiance of the Capitol sparked the rebellion. Is she willing to make patriotic radio broadcasts, be followed around by a film crew, even wade into battle to show her courage and willingness to stand up to the Capitol and fight for freedom? Katniss decides she is, but the unmistakable human cost of the rebellion she inadvertently started begins to wear her down.

What Works?

Director Francis Lawrence is back, which is cause for great cheer—his Catching Fire was an enormous improvement over the shaky-cam afflicted Hunger Games, which was helmed by Gary Ross. Thus, Mockingjay basically has all its ducks in a row, proving a well-paced flick that is admirably-faithful to the book while also cutting away to scenes the book’s first-person viewpoint couldn’t touch (a crowd's uprising against the armed Capitol crew protecting a power-producing dam is a particular highlight). Much of the dialogue is word-for-word from the page, new characters effortlessly blend in while old favorites resurface (prominent among them are Woody Harrelson and Sam Claflin’s former Games winners, and Elizabeth Banks’ spunky mentor), a few key scenes are impressively fleshed-out, and, despite some heavy proceedings, the film is laced with enough wit to keep things from getting too depressing. Also, for the second film in a row, Lawrence leaves the audience with an utterly-haunting final image.

What Doesn’t Work?

Okay, so, the marvelous Catching Fire was always going to be a tough act to follow, especially for a partial adaptation of what is without question the least popular book in the Games series. It doesn’t help that this is a Part 1, so it feels even less like a complete story and more like a set-up (think Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, which was very dedicated to its source material but seemed like boring filler compared to the action everyone knew was coming in the finale).

It sounds odd to say this, but it is not necessarily Mockingjay’s fault that it’s not better. I called the Catching Fire film arguably the best adaptation possible of the second book in Collins’ series—Mockingjay is almost at that level for its own material. Again, the dialogue is close, all the right characters are here, and key moments are brought to vivid life; however, the fact remains that, after two chapters centered around a morbidly-irresistible contest about action and survival, Mockingjay is more of a procedural, with more talk and a lot less action. It lacks the set-up and searing emotion of the first installment, and the spectacular action and colorful characters of the second. It was true of the books—I’ve always said Suzanne Collins bit off more than she could chew with the third installment, turning an edgy but undeniably-entertaining Young Adult adventure story into a brooding post-apocalyptic chronicle of war. Director Lawrence makes an uncharacteristic misstep at one point in trying to capitalize on the possibilities of this concept (a Zero Dark Thirty-style night-time incursion into the Capitol by special ops personnel turns out to be little more than a string of scenes of men passing through pairs of mechanical doors and entering empty rooms).

While it was unavoidable—because this is a faithful adaptation—it’s also true that many of the more entertaining performers from the previous installments are minimized (among them the charmingly-snarky Harrelson, endearingly-sincere Hutcherson and amusingly-chirpy Banks) while more serious performers take the fore (such as the clinical, straight-laced Moore, subdued, understated Hoffman, rather brooding Hemsworth and the always-brooding Jennifer Lawrence). They each get their moments, but there’s too little of most of them. Harrelson’s first appearance was cheered in my theater, and Hutcherson walks away with MVP honors this time around despite appearing in just a few short scenes—his heart-breakingly honest emotion is affecting, especially when compared to the sullen mutterings coming from Hemsworth and Lawrence. Yes, as was true in the book, Katniss and Gale’s will they/won’t they relationship is given more room to breathe, though the lack of chemistry and mostly-depressed sweet-nothings they exchange mostly just prove dull reminders of what annoyed viewers about another recent, wildly-popular Young Adult franchise (*cough* Twilight *cough cough*). It is nice to see Hemsworth get to actually do something rather than simply cameo in early scenes—and he impresses delivering a dramatic monologue Gale didn't have in the book—but he lacks the boy-next-door charisma of Hutcherson, if we’re talking romantic rivals and/or main co-stars for Lawrence.

Speaking of Lawrence, she’s one of the most recognizable stars in the world and has been on the A-list for four years, but I still can’t quite decide how to rate her acting. It’s undeniable that she can turn on the waterworks and agonized screams like few others, but her performance here seems rather on-again, off-again. I won’t argue with those who say Katniss is the perfect role for her, but the fact remains that the books deeply explored Katniss’ inner life and thoughts, and the films can’t. Thus, Lawrence broods and/or freaks out, but seems to do little else; it’s curious how her eyes can be such deep wells of emotion but her face can remain so inexpressive. Let’s just say that, like in the books, where Katniss gave all the credit to Peeta for making her likeable and interesting, in the films, Lawrence owes a debt to Hutcherson for making her more accessible.

Content

There’s less overall action this time around, but what action there is tends to be more of the gut-check variety, as large crowds of people are gunned down in a few scenes of the rebellion in the Districts. There’s not usually much blood, but bodies pile up. There’s also a fairly-disturbing shot of human remains mixed with rubble where doomed civilians tried to flee an air raid. Some actual blood is shown in a scene in which Katniss visits a hospital filled with the victims of bombing and strafing attacks. And oh yeah, that one scene—get ready to jump out of your seat. Those who have no idea what’s coming will feel like they just got hit by a Mac truck.

Bottom Line

If Mockingjay – Part 1 isn’t nearly as good as its predecessors, the person to blame is author Suzanne Collins, because this movie is a pretty rigorously-faithful adaptation of her work. There’s just less action and less humor this time, less Woody Harrelson and less Josh Hutcherson, more exposition and more moping. Oh, there is some invigorating action, some affecting emotion, a couple interesting new characters, and one big, gnarly whopper of a scene, but I would ultimately say Mockingjay is solid, not spectacular.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

Directed by Francis Lawrence
Screenplay by Peter Craig & Danny Strong
Adapted from the novel “Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins
Rated PG-13
Length: 123 minutes