Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Katniss is on Fire and loving it

When we last left our intrepid young heroine Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), she was rescued from the Quarter Quell with other past victors from previous Hunger Games. She is now being propositioned to be the rallying cry for the districts to band together, and take down the capitol once and for all. She is abrasive as always, saying that she will only be their voice if Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) is rescued at the first opportunity. The war wages on and Katniss must keep herself together as well as she can, while leading a country back from the brink. 

Okay, time for me to anger the four people that actually read this blog, and have read The Hunger Games Trilogy. I never read the third book. The first one seemed like a more in depth, American retelling of the Asian movie Battle Royale, and the second book bored me to tears. Call it whatever you want, but this is a rare occurrence where the movies actually interested me more than the book. Sure, I wish they played up Haymitch more in the second movie (since he was my favorite character), but I never liked these movies for there "compelling storyline." I liked them for the work that was put into them, the performances given by all of the cast, the amazing way they were shot, and subtle emotional underlining. These movies were never going to register with me on a writing level, but thankfully all of the movies (to include this one) registered with me on an entertainment level. 

Speaking of the writing in this, let's go ahead and talk about it. This movie (and book series) were written in the most uninspired way possible. I feel like Suzanne Collins saw Battle Royale and said "you know what was missing from this movie? Back story on how the government was pushed to the breaking point." Little did she know the thing most people loved about that movie was the lack of explanation. All I needed to know with Battle Royale was "they have a youth problem, and decided to give the youth guns and an arena." Simple, short, sweet, and amazing end result. This movie/book just over explains everything. Of Course the bad ass archer chick is caught in a love triangle, because there aren't any young adult novels that can't have some element of Twilight in them for fear that they won't catch on. Of course the rebels have a secret arsenal, and won't use it because of "story telling reasons," because we want people to think of Star Wars in the back of their mind. In fact, this whole movie is a Star Wars/Battle Royale mash up fan fiction if you think about it. It is just that this evil galactic empire has kids fighting in an arena, and the other one had a base the size of a moon that could destroy planets. The only thing they added was a love triangle (and yes I am not counting Luke, Leia, and Han as a love triangle because that is a bit gross), and I can barely accredit them with adding politics since the new Star Wars Trilogy was all about politics. So sufficed to say, I don't like the writing in this movie, I think it was a lazy, quick buck for Suzanne Collins; but, at least she is better than Stephanie Myers (which isn't much of a compliment).

Luckily, this movie has a brilliant support structure that can almost make you forget that you are watching the entire Star Wars series, if it was all filmed on Endor. The least of which is not the director Francis Lawrence, who breaths life into a dead script. Francis has a history of finding a way of making even the worst movie ideas seem like poetry when he directs something. Say what you will about I Am Legend and Constantine, but there are shots in those movies that will stick with me through out my entire writing career. This movie is no different. The bombing scenes give you a hint of general concern for the characters, and make you pray for their safety. The action scenes in this are a bit scarce, but when they happen he spares no minor detail in creating a realistic battle. This is another in the line of great successes that he can pin on his wall of achievements. 

The other thing that I always look forward to seeing in this series are the brilliant performances put forth by the cast. Unfortunately, they cut out Woody Harrelson to a very support heavy role, but the scenes where he is on screen are something truly wonderful to behold. Jennifer Lawrence is amazing (yet again) as Katniss, and I love how she has this way of making her voice crack at just the right moments in order to make a scene carry a boat load of gravitas. Liam Hemsworth is... well he is very pretty. Just kidding. The kid takes after his brother, by selling the performance of a young pup with a large amount of pride with reserved dignity, and smoldering good looks. The surprise for me in this movie came from none other than Josh Hutcherson. He was essential to the "plot" of this movie, and really brought his A game, because he outshines even the more experienced actors. 

Final Verdict: See it in Theaters This movie lacks in the story department, but the cast and crew are more than willing to pick up the pieces. It isn't going to win any story of the year awards from me, but it is definitely worth the price of admission.