MOVIE REVIEW: The Hunger Games – Mockingjay Part 1 (No Spoilers)
Directed by Francis Lawrence.
Written by Danny Strong and Peter Craig.
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Natalie Dormer, Mahershala Ali, Jena Malone and Donald Sutherland.
PG-13, 123 minutes.
Near the end of the penultimate chapter of The Hunger Games film series, our heroine and villain stand face to face by way of a television screen, calling to mind a similar dynamic in a fellow science fiction adventure, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It’s a comparison that does Mockingjay – Part 1 no favors. While the former reinvigorated a well-established science fiction series after a poorly received installment, this film drains a lot of the enthusiasm going forward and makes this reviewer wish it were over already.
Picking up immediately where the second film left us, the rebellion against the Capitol is in full swing. Katniss has taken up residence in the underground bunker of the long-believed-destroyed District 13. She’s tapped by the leader of the revolution, Coin (Julianne Moore), and former Hunger Game-maker Plutarch (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to become the face of their rebellion, starring in propaganda spots to further unite everyone against the Capitol.
Freed from the constraints of having to follow the same formula, the idea of taking time out of the series’ overall trajectory to tell a story about the ways in which the propaganda machine can influence the masses is a potentially fascinating concept. It would surely have made splitting the final Hunger Games novel into two movies a lot easier to swallow, but there’s little here to suggest the series could overcome its biggest flaw, an overly slavish devotion to its source material, and tell this half-story in a compellingly cinematic fashion. Without a little extra thematic follow-through to make this at least superficially feel like a stand-alone piece of work, the two hours pass by in punishing fashion, with very little of interest going on and what is interesting happening off-screen.
It’s also disheartening to watch Jennifer Lawrence, one of the biggest movie stars in the world, given little to do besides look concerned and act bereaved. She’s obviously giving it her all, and her talents aren’t entirely put to waste, but without the urgency of having to rely on her survival instincts to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds, there’s an unfortunate notion running throughout this installment that there was nothing truly interesting about her character in the first place.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 ranks alongside other disappointing franchise extenders such as The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which exist for no other reason than to serve as placeholders for another sequel. While it makes sense from an economic standpoint to prolong the finale of this cash cow for another year, there’s simply not enough story here to justify such a decision.
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