If we burn, you burn with us! Indeed, Miss Everdeen, we all got burned. Not for the better. Part 1 of the movie was just alright.

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2015)

You got to be mocking me! Splitting, author Suzanne Collins's 'Hunger Games: Mockingjay' into two movie parts was not a good idea from the movie studio. It was supposed to be the grand finale; instead, it felt like a grand disappointment, because how much Part 1 is lacking. They cut the material, a little too thin, here. Directed by Francis Lawrence, the movie is slow talk with little action. Pretty mediocre, in my opinion. The movie tells the story of first 12 chapters of the Mockingjay novel, in which, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawerence) is in District 13 after escaping the Hunger Games of the previous film, 2013's Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss must become the figure-head of the rebellion movement; the Mockingjay. So that, the movement can take down the Capitol leader, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and save her friend, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). Without spoiling too much of the movie, the movie bears little resemblance to its predecessors, as it replace most of the cartoony futuristic gladiator action, with a more serious tone, of realistic warfare. While there's much less bloody hand-to-hand fighting -- and no kids killing kids -- the violence can still be intense and upsetting. Lots of shots of skeletal remains, dead and severely wounded citizens, the execution of traitors to the Capitol. It's scary, how much, it mirrors that of real life conflicts. You really get the sense of how large and awful the war got, when you see the after effects; it had on the environments of District 12 or the large number of death in the hospital at District 8. You really get into the heart of the series and what it's exploring. Many thought-provoking messages/themes about war, media, rebellion, politics, greed, the dangerous edge of idealism and nationalism, and, ultimately, human nature. The movie doesn't shy away from going deep into the tactics of image manipulation, video virality and propaganda, which can be considered ironic since as a Hollywood movie, it employs these very tactics itself, and the audience is being made aware of how they are manipulated. There's also some level of funny reality subtext that Katniss is acting like a horrible actress than herself. The adaptation was mostly faithful to the novel, with few changes. Most of the changes were made, to make it, a little more entertaining. Such as the case, of adding back recurring colorful supporting characters like Effie (Elizabeth Banks) & Haymitch (Woody Harrison) to bring more, of a familiar feel. In the novel, most of the supporting characters from the Games were pretty absent, but Harrison and Banks did pretty well in their limiting roles. The movie also felt the need to add more action sequences, unseen from the book as the book was lacking in it. In my opinion, the action in the film wasn't the best, I have saw, because you barely witness the event, just see the after-effects of those actions. I was really disappointment, by the absence of detail. A good example of this was the increase interest in the book, Mockingjay had for Gale (Liam Hemsworth). It really felt like it was his time to shine. Instead, the huge ending action scene that the movie set up for Gale, was anticlimactic, rather than suspenseful or interesting. They really don't give much for Liam Hemsworth to work it, so I don't blame him, for how bland, his performance was. Another thing, the movie tries to do is cut down on Katniss's over sensitive irrationally mood swings and PTSD. Thank god, for that. I don't blame Lawrence for this. She's such a gifted actress, but her character is getting annoying and repetitive. Watching a post-traumatic 18-year-old girl that care more about the one person than the whole world is a bit much to take. Thank goodness, it was less romance than in previous installments. The love triangle is getting pretty old, by now. Watching the movie, I was really getting kinda upset on Katniss's dumb tantrums about Peeta. Josh Hutcherson isn't on screen all that much compared to the first two films, but when he is, as Peeta, you really see his dark transformation from well-known celebrity, to starved, wild-eyed hostage being forced to read propaganda. Donald Sutherland is pretty sinister as President Snow, but he also get a cut-back as the movie barely focus on him. There's a dark, melancholy tone to Mockingjay, but most of this movie felt like set up. There are parts I love, like when Katniss sings "The Hanging Tree," and the bombing of District 13 that remind me of London Blitz of WW2, but I'd probably have a much harder time remember anything besides that. I felt that Part 1 is a lesser movie; as it just set up material. It felt like it was clearly just made into a movie as a teaser and a money grabbing ploy to get as much money from the book's large fan base. Overall: This isn't the sequel that a lot of people will re-watch again, unless you're a super fan. Then again, it does set things up for the final film. Still, it's worth, at least, one watch. Recommended. Just note, that it's just not the best movie in the series.