A good third instalment, albeit a slow burner

Rating: 7/10 (21 November 2014)

This last outing by Francis Lawrence, the third instalment in a film series of four, is set in the war-torn districts of Panem left shattered by the Capitol's armed forces in an attempt to strangle the rebellion caused by Katniss' latest Games. The film takes off where the last one ended and works as a build-up for what is to come in Part 2. Though the film works as a "bridge" it is quite engaging with its 2- hour runtime and does enough to keep the audience entertained.
The film works great as an adaptation because I felt the imagery of the film was almost identical to those I had made myself reading the book. This is something of a rarity, though I believe it is recurrent in the previous two instalments as well. As to potential errors with the transition from book to film, none were worth noting as far as I am concerned. The avid book fans will not be disappointed in other words.
Probably the single strongest selling point in "Mockingjay - Part 1" is Jennifer Lawrence. She gives an overall good performance and though it is worth noting that this is not her best role till date, there are moments wherein she shines. Had Ms Lawrence been given more material with which to work, I am sure she would have taken opportune advantage of it. Additionally Liam Hemsworth in the role as Gale Hawthorne struck me as heartfelt and believable. The only casting choice I draw in question is Julianne Moore as President Alma Coin. I thought she gave a bland performance and I think the film would have benefited from another actress in her stead.
Although I liked the film, and thought Francis Lawrence did a decent job, I definitely believe that this is the weakest link in the series. The film does suffer from a lack of content that could have been averted by merging parts 1 & 2 in a longer cut. Some of the "propos"- scenes were quite awkward at times although I grant they felt awkward reading too. Also, to my annoyance Ms Lawrence had a scene or two where her acting felt very forced and where I thought low credibility was being conveyed. This left me slightly less impressed by her acting in this particular film, but I thought she did a great job overall notwithstanding the flaws as aforementioned.
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1" is an entertaining teen film that will provide readers of the books with an accurate and satisfying rendering, and others that have not with a slight sense of disappointment perhaps. I enjoyed "Mockingjay" quite a lot, and although I acknowledge that it has its flaws, I would still recommend it. To call it one of the years best would be an overstatement, but it is however worth looking into.