THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY, PART 1 (2014 - ACTION / DRAMA / SCI-FI) *** out of ***** OR 6 out of 10
(Katniss is back - and she's really pissed, yo...)
CAST: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Julianne Moore, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Sam Claflin, Willow Shields, Jena Malone, Paula Malcomson.
DIRECTOR: Francis Lawrence
(WARNING: Some SPOILERS and blatant stalling tactics straight ahead)
IT'S LIKE THIS: If you need definitive proof that Hollywood is about money and not art, all you have to do is look at the recent trend of turning blockbuster novel trilogies into blockbuster movie quadrilogies. Essentially, the third entries are being split into two-parters designed to get fans of the books (and general moviegoers) to fork over more cash. We've seen this tactic with the TWILIGHT and HARRY POTTER franchises recently, and we will see it again in the DIVERGENT franchise. In the case of DIVERGENT, though, four movies out of three books is actually a great thing because we get to see much more of the sexy Theo James strut his stuff in tight-fitting pants. Consider me sold.
We are also seeing this trend with THE HUNGER GAMES franchise. Our next review is part 1 of the final entry and appropriately titled, uh, MOCKINGJAY PART 1. If you'll recall in our review of the last film, THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (review # 534), our spunky and intense heroine, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), was roped into a "Special Edition" of the games by the evil President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Not to spoil that movie, but those of you who saw it know that it didn't end in quite the way we were expecting, setting up an EMPIRE STRIKES BACK-type of cliffhanger ending. Let's just say CATCHING FIRE ended on a tight shot of Katniss' scowling face, essentially promising us there will be hell to pay in the next movie...
And here we are with MOCKINGJAY PART 1, our next review. Our story opens with with Katniss waking up in the long-thought-vaporized District 13, which has actually just gone underground to plot a rebellion against the Capital. Presided over by the coolly pragmatic President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), District 13's leadership has snatched Katniss from the games in CATCHING FIRE to use her as a poster child for the revolution. Unfortunately, Katniss is busy sulking over the loss of her pal and possible love interest Peeta Mallark (Josh Hutcherson), who was taken by the evil forces of the Capital at the end of the last movie.
Eventually, though, Katniss wakes the hell up and realizes her feelings for Peeta are small potatoes in relation to wiping out the dictatorial rule of the Capital. She eventually gets on board with the propaganda videos being shot by District 13 - and sends threatening messages to President Snow that essentially say his ass is grass. Especially after Snow orders the destruction of a hospital full of wounded innocents who dared to side with Katniss. You just know that sooner or later all these movies are going to boil down to a smack-down of epic proportion between Snow and Katniss.
Snow, however, is not president for no good reason - and orders an attack of District 13, intending to wipe out poor Katniss and her allies before they even get to spark the flame of revolution. Fortunately, the leaders of District 13 are not leaders for no good reason, either, and cleverly avoid maximum damage. However, they know that Snow will try again soon - and their window for a rapid counter-attack is very narrow.
What will Katniss and District 13 do? Will they be able to strike back in time? And what will they achieve? Is President Coin right when she says they have to snatch back Peeta from the Capital? And what happens when District 13 launches a secret mission to do so? Will Katniss join them? Or will she remain in the relative safety of District 13? And is President Snow so foolish as to let the Capital's guard down to let them just saunter through? Is he up to something?
A-fucking-hem, folks...
BUT SERIOUSLY: In recent years, a curious (but, ultimately, not surprising) thing has happened with how Hollywood handles trilogy adaptations - they've started splitting the third and final books into two movies, essentially creating an artificial quadrilogy. Obviously, this is solely to make money from two movies instead of one. It's actually quite clever, if not logically defensible. Obviously, the intent - aside from making more money - is to turn the final installments into "major events" and build anticipation. And this has largely proven successful, financially if not always artistically. Proof of that comes with our latest example of the "Two-Part Final Entry In An Artificial Quadrilogy".
In our review for THE HUNGER GAMES (review # 446), we noted it was an above average melding of a Sci-Fi Action Thriller and Survival Film that was fueled by the magnetism of its lead, Jennifer Lawrence. In our subsequent review for THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (review # 534), we noted it was a marked improvement on its predecessor, bolstered by a stronger script and Lawrence's reliably powerful presence. Now, in THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 we see the beginning of the end of THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy...
At the conclusion of our review for THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE last year, we mentioned we were looking forward to MOCKINGJAY PART 1 and hoped it would be a strong introduction to the final part of the trilogy. Did it live up to our expectations? Not quite - and therein lies the problem with splitting what was meant to be one movie into two: you weaken the impact of the story because you have to spread events out over four hours or so instead of just two, as was intended. Such is the case with MOCKINGJAY PART 1.
Gone is the suspenseful build-up to the Games that characterized the first two movies. In fact, there are no Games in this installment, which robs the narrative of urgency and suspense. While there are some tense sequences here and there (such as the Capital's attack on District 13), they do not measure up to the anticipation and thrills of the games and the preparation for them. In short, MOCKINGJAY PART 1 feels like a routine dystopian sci-fi action/thriller, without the distinctive sense of identity of the first two films.
The saving grace of this film, as with the other two, is Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. However, Katniss doesn't seem to be as strongly-written here as she was in the previous films. Lawrence is still the charismatic and riveting performer she always was, but Katniss doesn't feel as involved in the plot as she should be. Again, this is largely due to the fact that this film is essentially just a build-up to the next and final one, wherein Katniss will surely play a central part - but that doesn't help her here, though.
It also doesn't help that MOCKINGJAY PART 1 puts even more of an emphasis on Katniss' growing feelings for Peeta, who previously was always just a friend to her. The weak spot of THE HUNGER GAMES films has always been its romantic subplots. As terrific as Lawrence is, she simply doesn't have much chemistry with her male leads - either with Liam Hemsworth as Gale or Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. Whenever the films focus on these relationships, they becomes less interesting - especially here.
Contrast this weakness with the strengths of the similarly-themed DIVERGENT franchise, which is also set in a dystopian future society marked by conformity and rebellion. In DIVERGENT, the romantic subplot is powerful and actually fuels the main storyline, largely because its leads, Shailene Woodley and Theo James, have an electric chemistry that keeps us interested and invested in their relationship. MOCKINGJAY PART 1 stumbles because, sadly, its leads don't have anywhere near the kind of sexy spark that Woodley and James have in DIVERGENT.
In the end, though, THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 rises above the average mark because of Lawrence's typically strong work, and a raft of solid supporting performances from a the talented likes of Julianne Moore, Jeffrey Wright, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Elizabeth Banks, and Donald Sutherland. Let's hope that MOCKINGJAY PART 2 will provide the explosive finale that THE HUNGER GAMES films is crying for.
In closing, I'd like to dedicate this review to the late, talented Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose tragic, unexpected passing recently is a great loss to his family, friends, and the art of cinema. You are gone, but not forgotten, sir...
