Saw the recent Hunger Games film this weekend. I never read the series, but I did enjoy the first two films and was looking forward to this one. All in all, Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 isn’t as gripping or heart stopping as the first two movies, but it does seem to lay down the groundwork for what will be (I’m hoping) an epic climax in the last movie next year.
Full revolution has come to the nation of Panem. Katniss is living with her family in struggling District 13, the epicenter of the rebellion. The president of the district wants to use Katniss’s popularity to make her a figurehead for the revolution, and entices her to start a series of propaganda videos to rally others to their cause. Katniss meanwhile longs for those others she fought with in the Games, and wants her new friends to find and rescue them from the Capitol. When she gets her wish, it isn’t what she had hoped for.
Mockingjay 1 is a bit light on the action. There is a lot of dialogue and plot development going on throughout the film, leading up to the final film. Its always the risk moviemakers take when they split a single book into two (or more – I’m looking at you Hobbit) films. It is still a good movie, if a little campy at times; after all, it is based on a young adult book series. I am hoping the last movie lives up to the scale this film built for it.
Jons Movie Takes 