Mockingjay Part 1is a beautifully tragic and a visually stunning work of art.

Rating: 10/10 (21 November 2014)

The highly anticipated sequel to ' The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ' is a beautifully tragic and a visually stunning work of art.
The story picks up right where we left off with the previous movie with Katniss being full of regret because she was saved instead of Peeta and the other tributes. It quickly evolves in this movie about a war and what it means with the underlying theme of the consequences of the games over Katniss and what PTSD can do to you.
Jennifer Lawrence brings a marvelous performance and successfully portrays this complex character. One of the most memorable scenes was when she got back to District 12. We also see Josh Hutcherson a.k.a. Peeta go through many transitions and his acting has only improved since the first film. The newcomers, Julianne Moore and Nataly Dormer are scene-stealers.
Many people, including myself, we're afraid that 'Part 1' is going to be dull and boring. It was nothing whatsoever. The pacing was on point and the same goes for storytelling.
The director, Francis Lawrence, has delivered the best experience you could possibly expect from the first half of the book. There is, in fact, humor added which was missing in the previous installments. He had also done this remarkable job at expanding the universe with showing us more from the different districts. The CGI work is better than ever before and so are the cinematography and editing.
The score is also very fitting and has borrowed a few things from previous installments. The longly awaited 'Hanging Tree' song is very unique and got stuck into my head.
In short, I can easily say this is the best book-to-movie adaptation and even surpassed the book in a few ways. The acting and storytelling are phenomenal and the ending is sensational. The film ends on such a high note and cliffhanger which leaves the fans yearning for the fourth and final installment of the series.