Half of a very good blockbuster.

Rating: 6/10 (22 November 2014)

This movie is basically what you expect before you see it. Without getting too technical, and strange plot devices aside, the directing is good with just a few miscues, much like catching fire. The acting is incredible, though some of the dialogue is cheesy. They didn't take the Harry Potter road of making part one more art driven, nor did they use the extra time to more fully explain the world outside of district 13, which would have been a better choice. Instead they chose to focus more on katniss' inner turmoil. That proved to be a bad choice as the peaks of this movie were actually all events that took place away from her (there is a particularly effective dam scene dealing with members of outside districts). Basically my recommendation would be to wait until part two comes out and watch this right before so you can pretend it was one big movie because this film constantly reminds you that it is only half a story (especially the huge let down at the end of the climax.)