Review of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014) by Stephen I — 17 Jan 2016

Following on from the dramatic events of Catching Fire, Katniss becomes the poster girl for the revolution against the Capitol as it fights to retain control of the districts.

I believe that ironically the strength of the franchise is when it is not the gladiatorial arena of the Games themselves but the politics surrounding them. And the Games are left to one side in this film as we see the Capitol- led by President Snow- use brutal tactics to cling on to its dominance of Panem. Unlike other antagonists in films who behave like villains for the sake of it, there is method to the cruelty Snow is unleashing on the districts. The rhetoric that he uses emphasis the need for law and order over individual freedom and this is not unlike language used by totalitarian regimes in the real world.

The other angle this film comes from is a satire on the use of media as a means of manipulating and providing 'spin' on world events. But the propaganda videos come from both sides as Katniss is dressed as a symbolic Joan of Arc character in staged videos to rally the districts while Peeta is forced to partake in televised interviews by Stanley Tucci who is now using a more serious tone. It is a battle of the airwaves to win the hearts and minds of the population.

The love-triangle remains the weakest part of the films and as expected the splitting of the final book means that there is not much material for the films to be working with, leading to a few listless scenes. However, I still enjoyed this far more than I thought I would.