On first watch slow, but repeated viewing is highly rewarding

Rating: 8/10 (8 October 2015)

** Contains spoilers **
First of all, I have to say I am a fan of the first "Hunger Games" movie and felt it was well done if not a little wrong in places (e.g. the mutts at the end of the movie were not as horrific as I think they should have been). And I absolutely loved "Catching Fire". For me, this was the best movie of 2013 and was the finest adaptation of a book (YA or otherwise) that I've ever seen.
However, when it comes to "Mockingjay: Part 1" things go a little awry. I'm not a fan of splitting a final book into two parts to begin with, and because of "Mockingjay"'s sometimes meandering plot in the book, I was always sceptical about this third movie.
When I first watched this in the cinema in 2014, I felt like mostly everyone else - it was boring, dull, nothing happened etc. However, I recently bought the blu-ray, and after almost a year between viewings, I felt like I was watching "Mockingjay: Part 1" with new eyes.
This time I saw the fine attention to detail by the writers and director. Unlike other recent YA adaptions (i.e. "The Scorch Trials" and "Insurgent") the screenwriters on "Mockingjay: Part 1" seemed to truly know their source material inside and out.
There are also certain scenes in the movie which are exceptional. Such as Katniss discovering the mass of skeletons in District 12, Katniss filming the propo with Plutarch (the comic timing of Jennifer Lawrence is perfectly judged here) and most famously, the "Hanging Tree" scene.
The acting is fantastic throughout (as it should be with all those Academy Award nominees and winners) and is all underpinned by James Newton Howard's finest Hunger Games score to date. Elegant and haunting, the music is truly magnificent.
Not as good as "Catching Fire" yet better judged than "The Hunger Games", "Mockingjay: Part 1" deserves a better reputation than it has. It may not be as action packed as the first two movies - and inevitably the final instalment - yet it is filled with subtleties and horrifically, beautiful shots.
The movie is quiet and slow, yet its core message (our obsession with reality TV, growing desensitisation and the futility of war) has never been shouted louder. And for that alone, "Mockingjay: Part 1" should be applauded and given a second chance.