Review of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014) by Opinionatedguy — 22 Nov 2014

Before I watched the movie, I was reading/watching some reviews about Mockingjay Part 1. They complained that Mockingjay should have been one movie instead of two and that makes me a bit worried about my movie experience. Gladly I really enjoyed the movie a lot as a fan of The Hunger Games.

Sure, it has less action than the previous two movies. I am not quite surprised that some people who didn’t read the books got really bored watching the movie. But I am quite surprised that some book readers got bored watching the movie. They should have known that the first half of the book is more on dialogue than action.

The movie used its 2 hours and 5 minutes length very well. I was amazed how every detail in the first half of the book was translated to the big screen while also adding new scenes outside Katniss’ point of view in the books. They don’t feel like fillers at all, they felt important to the narrative and that is really good when you add new scenes never featured in the books.

Though Francis Lawrence did not re-imagine the way he directed Catching Fire in this movie, his direction is amazing in this movie. I love how dedicated he was in directing in this movie, especially the way he directed the propaganda videos for the movie.

Speaking of propaganda videos, it turned out to be much better than I expected. Some people say it’s really cheesy but that’s the point of a propaganda video, they’re cheesy and one sided. I have seen some North Korean propaganda videos to back this up. I really want to see the propaganda videos in their own full form. I hope it’s one of the extras for the movie when it comes out on home media.

The cast performances are excellent in this movie. Every actor and actress in this movie did a perfect job portraying their characters. Of course, Jennifer Lawrence did another great job portraying the character that made her a household name. It’s nice to see the new actors in this trilogy like Julianne Moore and Natalie Dormer in this movie. I can’t wait to see more of them in Part 2. Despite his short time appearance, Josh Hutcherson did his best acting ever as Peeta in this movie. He is no longer the pretty boy anymore and he is now a better actor than he was in the first movie. Also, I am glad Effie is in this movie. In the book, she only appears in one or two scenes which is in the near end of the book while the District 13 version of Effie named Fluvia takes her place. Elizabeth Banks played Effie so good that Effie as a character is likable for the fans. So it’s nice to see Effie taking over Fluvia’s role because Fluvia is not very likable compared to Effie.

The movie ended pretty well to leave us hanging without being anti-climatic. Too bad we have to wait for a year to see the finale.

I wouldn’t say this movie is better than Catching Fire because of its lack of action scenes but the penultimate chapter of The Hunger Games trilogy is entertaining with its compelling political themes, every book detail featured in the movie that will delight the book readers like me, excellent direction, excellent cast performance and an ending that makes you want more.