Writers: Peter Craig (screenplay),
Danny Strong (screenplay), 2 more credits »
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence,
Josh Hutcherson,
Liam Hemsworth|
See full cast and crew
Storyline
With the Games destroyed, Katniss Everdeen, along with Gale, Finnick and
Beetee, end up in the so thought "destroyed" District 13. Under the
leadership of President Coin and the advice of her friends, Katniss
becomes the "Mockingjay", the symbol of rebellion for the districts of
Panem. Written by
floraxie06
Official Trailer
User Reviews
Quickie Review:
After
the events of 75th Hunger Games, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) is rescued
and brought to District 13 where the rebellion is brewing. Now she must
become the face of the rebellion as both sides use propaganda against
each other. Meanwhile, Katniss is overwhelmed by balancing her
responsibility to the people of Panem with her desire to save Peeta
(Josh Hutcherson). Mockingjay Part 1 is strong when it comes to the
acting talent involved and showing the behinds the scenes propaganda of
war. However, the decision to split the story into two parts has really
hurt this movie by making it feel incomplete and filled with
overstretched melodrama. While it is not a complete failure, it may be
better to hold off watching this movie till Part 2 is released.
Full Review:
I
never read the books but I enjoyed the last two movies in the
franchise, especially Catching Fire. While I can't say I was aching to
go see Mockingjay Part 1, I was interested to know how the story
progressed after the cliff-hanger of the last movie. I was concerned
that splitting the story into two parts may have been a detrimental
choice, unfortunately my concerns were legitimate.
I know I'm
coming off really negative but there are definitely some gems in the
movie. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss and Donald Sutherland as President
Snow, were the best part of the movie. Watching them clash and play
strategic moves against each other was intriguing. The rest of the cast
do a good job in showing how they have been affected and changed by this
war. This is the first time we see the world outside of the actual
Hunger Games and District 12, which helped enrich this movie's universe.
Uniquely we get see how propaganda plays an important role in the war. I
can't remember the last war movie that delved into that aspect. On top
of that, these propaganda pieces were very moving thanks to the rage
fueled words of Katniss and the fear mongering of Snow.
A lot of
the problems for this movie stem from the fact we are spending 2hrs on
half a story. This led to us having an entire movie where Katniss keeps
crying and moping about either Peeta or the people of District 12 being
dead. The feeling that the movie is overstretched is only compounded by
how several scenes are just a rehash of a previous scene, for example
the recording of a propaganda (3 times) and multiple scenes per
character sulking about the people suffering. Look I'm not heartless, I
understand those are devastating things to happen to a person, but we
want to see the story move forward. I can honestly say that apart from
Katniss becoming the face of the rebellion, there is no significant plot
development since Catching Fire. There is all this slow build up but
that's all it is, a build up to an end that is unsatisfying. Essentially
this is a 2hr preview ad for Mockingjay Part 2, and quite frankly I
felt mad about this when I left the cinema, and that doesn't happen
often.
The pathetic cash-grab moves by studios to split the movie
into two parts is the root of all the problems for Mockingjay Part 1.
To fill the run time the movie is stuffed full with melodrama without
much weight to make you care for long. All the momentum that the
previous two movies had built has now come to a dull crawl. I'd
recommend skipping this movie till Part 2 is released and hopefully
enjoy a more complete story.
Post a Comment