Tuesday 23 December 2014

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 film review



Just went to see this film with my daughter at the Leeds/Bradford Odeon.

IMDB says: When Katniss destroys the games, she goes to District 13 after District 12 is destroyed.  She meets President Coin who convinces her to be the symbol of rebellion, while trying to save Peeta from the Capitol.

In this Francis Lawrence (I am Legend, Constantine) directed film, Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle) reprises her role as Katniss Everdeen.  Saved by the rebels, she is reunited with Gale (Liam Hemsworth, Expendables 2, Neighbours), her sister Prim (Willow Shields, Beyond the Blackboard, The Hunger Games) and her mother, played by Paula Malcomson (The Green Mile, A. I. Artificial Intelligence), but she worries constantly about those she left behind.  President Coin (Julianne Moore, The Hand that rocks the Cradle, Hannibal) and Plutarch Heavensbee (the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote, Charlie Wilson's War) convince her to become the Mockingjay, the symbol of the rebellion, even though she feels this will put Peeta (Josh Hutcherson, Bridge to Terabithia, The Kids are Alright) at risk from retaliation by President Snow (Donald Sutherland, The Italian Job, MASH) back in the Capitol.

To help with the series of promos, Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson, Now You See Me, Cheers), Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks, The Lego Movie, Pitch Perfect) and Beetee (Jeffrey Wright, Source Code, Quantum of Solace) coach Katniss once more and enlisted to protect Katniss is Boggs (Mahershala Ali, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The 4400).



This film was a lot slower and darker than the previous ones and I felt more could and should have been made of the rebellion, hopefully the second part will show more of the war.  There were only brief glimpses of President Snow, Peeta and Caesar Flickerman, important clogs in the franchise that for me, left gaps, and I think splitting Mockingjay into two parts spoiled the pace that the previous movies benefitted from but the film was enjoyable nonetheless.  Roll on part 2.

Tagline: Fire burns brighter in the darkness.                                                   7/10



#TheHungerGamesMockingjay  #JenniferLawrence  #JoshHutcherson

3 comments:

  1. Hi Karen, I totally agree with your review of Mockingjay Part 1. I'm a huge Hunger Games fan and I too myself felt like we were missing things.Having read the book previously to me seeing the film I knew what was going to happen but if you haven't already, I recommend reading them! They're brilliant! The books go into far more detail in a way that a movies can't. But I still agree that the movie could have dug a little deeper into the rebellion. Thanks - TashOnline

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  2. Hi Karen, I totally agree with your review of Mockingjay Part 1. I'm a huge Hunger Games fan and I too myself felt like we were missing things.Having read the book previously to me seeing the film I knew what was going to happen but if you haven't already, I recommend reading them! They're brilliant! The books go into far more detail in a way that a movies can't. But I still agree that the movie could have dug a little deeper into the rebellion. Thanks - TashOnline

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  3. Hi TashOnline, great to hear from you and thanks for your lovely comment. I too have read all the books (prior to the first film coming out) so also knew what was going to happen so it's great that you also felt that the movie should have made more of the war. I know it is hard to put everything from a book into a film, but when you have two to go at, I think more of the war should have been on screen.

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