The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Written by: Peter Craig and Danny Strong - Based on the novel "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Willow Shields, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Mahershala Ali, Jeffrey Wright, Paula Malcomson, Stanley Tucci, Natalie Dormer, Evan Ross, Elden Henson, Wes Chatham
Adventure/Sci-Fi - 124 Minutes Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 20 Nov 2014
Written by: Peter Craig and Danny Strong - Based on the novel "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Willow Shields, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Mahershala Ali, Jeffrey Wright, Paula Malcomson, Stanley Tucci, Natalie Dormer, Evan Ross, Elden Henson, Wes Chatham
Adventure/Sci-Fi - 124 Minutes Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 20 Nov 2014
A tale of two casts. It was the best of casts. It was the worst of casts. There is the old guard helmed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, and Woody Harrelson who embody characters far beneath their skill level, yet they take it seriously. There is the new breed with Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth trying to carry a placeholder film that should never have been split apart from its other half. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, possibly 2014’s worst title, should be a five-minute prologue setting the audience up for the meat of the story. Instead, we get the dinner rolls, water, and bland salad course of the meal.
Gary Ross, the director of the franchise’s first film in 2012, knew exactly when to jump ship. The book readers all know the first book was the best, most well rounded, and structurally sound of the three novels. It makes sense it would work best as a film as well. 2013’s Catching Fire barely caught anyone’s attention and I guarantee Mockingjay Part 1 will be as forgotten as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1. Why must all film adaptations of final novels in a series be split into parts? Harry Potter, Twilight, and now The Hunger Games. If Cloud Atlas can be pared down into one film, then I assure you dear reader, so can Mockingjay.
Gary Ross, the director of the franchise’s first film in 2012, knew exactly when to jump ship. The book readers all know the first book was the best, most well rounded, and structurally sound of the three novels. It makes sense it would work best as a film as well. 2013’s Catching Fire barely caught anyone’s attention and I guarantee Mockingjay Part 1 will be as forgotten as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1. Why must all film adaptations of final novels in a series be split into parts? Harry Potter, Twilight, and now The Hunger Games. If Cloud Atlas can be pared down into one film, then I assure you dear reader, so can Mockingjay.
Part 1’s cardinal sin is it is all set up. There is no all inclusive story that only belongs in this film. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence, 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past) wakes up in District 13 out of the arena from Catching Fire. She spends the majority of her time hissing at folks for only saving her and not Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). District 13’s government leader, President Coin (Julianne Moore, 2014's Non-Stop), advised by Capitol City traitor Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman, 2012's The Master), want to use Katniss as their revolution’s central propaganda piece. If Katniss makes the right speeches in the most sentimental backgrounds, then the rest of the districts will rise up against the Capitol as well.
Katniss does not come off looking like a very effective role model here. While district civilians fight Capitol City soldiers using only their numbers to overpower them, Katniss whines about Peeta, puts the entire District 13 civilian population in mortal danger by waiting for her sister, Primrose (Willow Shields), to chase after her cat during a significant bombardment from Capitol City aircraft, and flirts with her friend Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) because Peeta is out of town acting as Capitol City’s own propaganda pawn.
Compare this Katniss with film one’s Katniss. In The Hunger Games, Katniss was a young girl thrust into mortal danger against her peers running through the woods dodging axes and every other weapon one can wield. I believed her fear. She physically shook she was so afraid. She collapsed into a pile of tears when her little friend Roo was murdered. In Mockingjay, Katniss transforms into a sullen teenager who shrugs her shoulders in a ‘Whatever’ response whenever a mean old adult in the room calls her out for acting ridiculous. There is no more fear, in fact, there are not very many feelings at all. Katniss’s body language says, “Just leave me alone,” and that does not make for a very interesting film.
Action/thriller films always end with a climax. Heck, even morose period dramas have a climax. Mockingjay Part 1 inexplicably lacks one. We watch characters on a screen watch a screen themselves as minor characters go on a mission, but there is no payoff for the two hours of rising action we just sat through. Shame on Lionsgate and director Francis Lawrence for being so shallow to cut Mockingjay into two films. It does not work…at all. The film will still rake in a ridiculous amont of money at the box office, but I hope the fanboys and girls will recognize Part 1 for what it is, a waste of time; a placeholder to take more of your money while you wait for Part 2. Shame.
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