Two hours of bland and over-stretched set-up

Rating: 4/10 (5 February 2017)

As said with the first two 'Hunger Games' films (which had its plus points but didn't do much for me), the books are fun, scary, thrilling and moving though because being so rich in detail and characterisation they are difficult to adapt.
Generally the films, while all with their good points, don't do them justice, following the basic details but with the spirit watered down to blandness and the characters nowhere near as fascinating. Judging the films on their own terms is to me a fairer way to judge though, and will be done here because they are problematic on their own. Of the four films (which all have good points but just as enough problems that stop me from caring for them much), 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part I' is the weakest, it feels too much like set-up and set-up that's very tame and really struggles to justify its length.
There are certainly good things. The production values, some dodgy special effects aside, are very well done with the nightmarishly dystopian production design faring best, it's lit with atmosphere and luckily the cinematography and editing is not the sloppy and frenetic kind seen in the first film. The score is thrilling and emotive, and there are some good performances here. This is particularly true of a terrific Jennifer Lawrence, dastardly Donald Sutherland, moving Philip Seymour Hoffman, smarmy Stanley Tucci and classy Julianne Moore.
Not all the cast work. Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson are still lacking charisma and expression, while Elizabeth Banks (a high point of the first film) and Woody Harrelson have nothing to do.
Lack of character development and halfway-decent writing plays a large part here. The characters had a lot of meat to them before but here are pretty bland stereotypes with non-existent development or direction, Katniss excepted. Didn't find myself caring for the relationship between Katniss and Peeta, mainly because of Peeta being written and played so blandly but also the chemistry didn't seem to be there. The writing does feel under-cooked, with some cringe-worthy moments and lacks edge or any kind of emotion a lot of the time.
'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part I' could have easily been shorter, because the story feels far too thin and over-stretched which makes some scenes interminably dull and dreary. The film is basically set-up and after finishing on a note every bit as abrupt as the ending for 'Catching Fire' it feels like set-up that doesn't lead or go anywhere. Atmosphere-wise, it just feels rather tame in alternative to tense and leaden rather than edgy. The direction is pretty pedestrian here.
In summary, bland and over-stretched despite some good performances, production values and music. 4/10 Bethany Cox