The Hunger Games “Mockingjay: Part One” Movie Review

Warning: This review may contain spoilers!

The Hunger Games is one of the most read and talked about series among preteens, teens, and even adults today. The original book trilogy, written by Suzanne Collins, includes the novels The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. Since March of 2012, directors Gary Ross and Francis Lawrence (“The Hunger Games”) have begun to bring the series to life. First with “The Hunger Games”, again in November of 2013 with “Catching Fire”, and most recently in November of 2014 with “Mockingjay: Part 1”. Of course, thousands of fans of the books and the movies bought a ticket to the third installment of the series, but was it as good as they hoped?

While the narrative of the third book is quite bulky, critics are still debating whether or not it was necessary for Lionsgate to split the movie into two parts. The second is set to premiere a year after the first in November 2015. In “Mockingjay: Part One”, Katniss wakes up after being asleep due to injuries received when District 13 officials pulled her out of the arena of the 75^th Hunger Games, along with her ally Finnick Odair. She is angry for much of the movie, as her on-and-off again love interest Peeta has not been rescued with her. In fact, the Capitol has taken him as prisoner, and she must wait underground in District 13 as they attempt to rescue him and other tributes. Katniss visits her old district, 12, which was blown up after Katniss and others were pulled from the arena. The rest of the movie pretty much shows Katniss and Gale going to different places in Panem, including visiting a hospital in District 8, in order to film promotions for the rebellion. Katniss is the “Mockingjay”, the symbol of the rebellion against the Capitol, and District 13 officials believe that the promotions will give the rest of the districts that are fighting against the Capitol a reason to keep up hope of freedom. While theses pieces have to be included in the movie in order to match the plot of the novel, they weren’t exactly thrilling to watch. And since this was the type of material that made up the bulk of “Mockingjay”, it made the movie the least interesting of the three so far. The only excitement came at the very end, when District 13 officials were able to rescue Peeta. Katniss is naively excited, as she is unaware of the damage the Capitol delivered to Peeta in an attempt to turn him against her. Peeta, played by Josh Hutcherson, is far from himself, instead; thin, pale, and covered with bruises and scratches. When Katniss greets him, viewers get a bit of a scare when he jumps up and chokes her, severely injuring her windpipe and neck. Everyone in the theater including myself sat on the edge of their seats, anticipating the next interaction between Katniss and Peeta. Unfortunately, the movie ended minutes later with a cliffhanger about how Peeta could possibly return to his usual self.

Had “Mockingjay: Part One” been a movie on its own, it wouldn’t have really made sense, but in keeping with the series, it was a solid part one of the third novel. Jennifer Lawrence delivers a passionate performance as Katniss. However, for those like myself looking for more scenes on the action front, that’s where this movie lacked. If “Mockingjay: Part Two” continues to follow the scheme of the novel, I’m sure viewers like myself won’t be disappointed with the amount of events that will occur.

Rating: 6 out of 10