Movie Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 (2014)

Usually when I review an entire series on this blog, I do so pretty quickly. I took a long break after the second Hunger Games movie, though, because it just sucked out all positive emotions I had towards this series. It wasn’t terrible, of course, but it had a lot of problems. And it doesn’t help that I wasn’t too passionate about the first film either.

Even the way this movie starts is a bit irritating. We’re given a lot of exposition up front. We’re told a lot of things we could have been shown. It’s also distracting to see three Academy Award winners — Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, and Mahershala Ali — all just there for a paycheck. Hoffman in particular is just going through the motions. It’s a shame that this was one of the last films for such a great actor.

So this movie really needed to do a lot to get me on its side. When Katniss sees an area in her district burnt to a crisp, it definitely works, though. It’s an emotional moment, and it’s visually striking.

I really don’t like when the story focuses on Katniss’s relationship with Peeta. That’s been the worst part of these movies thus far. The two actors don’t have a lot of chemistry, and while I appreciate having them on screen separately, the movie has never really given me reason to believe this relationship is real.

I do like that the movie doesn’t idealize the rebellion. They’re run by fairly cold people, and they definitely engage in media manipulation. This also helps make Katniss a more conflicted character. It’s not fully realized, but it’s there a bit.

It is clear there isn’t that much story here. Obviously the novel was split into two parts in order to make more money, and this is apparent on several occasions.

Still, the movie is pretty entertaining overall. It’s no masterpiece, but it gets the job done.

Rating: 6/10