Good half of a chapter; it'll be essential viewing come 2015

Rating: 7/10 (9 December 2014)

I find reviewing "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" to be kind of tricky. I'm literally seeing half the story, which means we have a beginning, a middle and kind of an ending, but not really. I suppose in a way the movie feels somewhat underwhelming, but then again, anytime you go into a movie where a portion of the title is dedicated to "Part 1", can you really expect a big action-packed climax and a resolution to all of the plots? It tells you from the get-go that you're only seeing half the movie here. Despite this, on its own, we are just seeing the first half of a bigger story and that makes this easily the weakest of all of the "Hunger Games" films. Does that make it bad? Not at all, it just means that it is incomplete. I think it's only fair that we all re-evaluating how good this film is when the whole story is concluded, but I still feel like in the mean time, there's plenty of material here to make it worth your while. If you haven't seen the previous chapters, this is not a good point to suddenly jump in. At the end of the last film, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and her new allies escaped from the Hunger Games. Unfortunately, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) has been left behind and captured by President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Learning that her home District has been completely annihilated by military forces as punishment for her rebellion, Katniss prepares herself to become the symbol of the rebellion against the Capitol.
While in the first two films there was plenty of action to balance out the character drama, this film is much more focused on the emotions of the characters. There are a lot of things going on here. Peeta has been captured by Snow and he's probably feeling pretty betrayed by the fact that he's waiting on Katniss to come and rescue him. Our heroine feels guilty about leaving her friend (is it OK to call him her boyfriend at this point?) behind and also feels outrage at what happened to her home. She wants to go up to the old tyrant and shoot an arrow right through his forehead. On the other hand, she doesn't want to get manipulated into being a figurehead for a cause she doesn't believe in. Then we've got other angles as the relationship between Katniss and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) is being tested and the strange relationship between Snow and Katniss. Just because you're not going to see nearly as much of Katniss jumping around shooting her trademark bow, doesn't mean this film is lacking in material. Seeing the movie actually really made me appreciate the performances and the characters that we've seen develop throughout these films. If you're planning on seeing "Mokingjay part 1", I'd highly recommend that you freshen up on the first two films, particularly if you haven't seen them since they were released in theatres because it will give you a whole new appreciation for the story that's developing here.
There is a good mix of big developments and small intimate moments here. As much as I liked seeing the seeds for the rebellion against the Capitol being sown and seeing Katniss debate whether or not she wanted to join up with the fight, I think I actually enjoyed the quieter moments more. I realized that some of the characters that I didn't take seriously when the series started have really started to grow on me. The best example has to be Elizabeth Banks as Effie. I distinctly remember thinking that her character was just a generic, airhead minion for the big bad in the first film, but now more than ever I see her as a truly three-dimensional character. If we have to sacrifice action for more intimate moments with the people of this world, I'm not entirely opposed to it. I'm even less offended at the idea knowing that when the next part of the story comes around, all of the big action and epic conclusions we've been waiting for since 2012, when the first "Hunger Games" was released is going to be there. A bit of quiet time before the storm ensures that everyone watching the movie will care about what the outcomes are.
I'll admit there were times where I did find myself craving sequences with Katniss going around kicking butt instead of seeing the dominos get set up for the big conclusion. Combine that with the fact that the movie has an ending, but not a big splashy one like you would prefer seeing and yes, that does mean that some people are going to be disappointed with this film. Just keep in mind that there is more coming. This is only Part 1, and they're getting ready to load that one in the firing chamber, it's not like there's any chance whatsoever that we're not going to get a conclusion to this franchise, so just calm down. "Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" is setting up the high stakes for the final fight, and it will be essential viewing when November 2015 comes around. If you're a fan of these movies, just keep that in mind and I think you'll be more than happy with the movie, even happier when part 2 finally arrives and we get to see how it all comes together. (Theatrical version on the big screen, December 2, 2014)