Most Daring, Rawest, Thought-Provoking and Darkest Installment of 'The Hunger Games' Yet

Rating: 10/10 (17 November 2014)

When Lionsgate announced back in 2012 that they were splitting the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy into two parts, people were skeptical at how they were going to make them a cohesive and alluring final two films. Considering the lukewarm reaction to the final novel 'Mockingjay' by Suzanne Collins and the less than encouraging history of film adaptions being split into more than one film (Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hobbit), the odds weren't exactly in this penultimate chapter's favour. However, two years on, it looks like director Francis Lawrence defied the odds and Lionsgate has another winner. 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1′ is the most daring, thought-provoking, rawest, darkest yet humorous film in the Hunger Games franchise filled with powerful performances from its new and returning cast members as well as an intelligently and beautifully written screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong.
The film immediately opens to a powerful and haunting scene, mainly due to Jennifer Lawrence's stunning portrayal of our heroine Katniss Everdeen, that sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Katniss is no longer forcing smiles in flaming dresses or dropped into a televised reality game show wearing latex wet suits all designed to appeal and appease the Capitol audiences, she's now hidden underground in the bleak and gray District 13, a district that months prior, none of the characters even knew had still existed since its 'alleged' obliteration during 'The Dark Days'.
One of the biggest surprises is that 'Mockingjay – Part 1′ doesn't feel like a 'Hunger Games' film that we've come to know in the previous two installments, more so than how many felt about the third book to the previous two books before it. It almost feels like a complete reboot of the entire franchise. The film is almost entirely set in District 13; besides the short but poignant visits to District 12, 8 and little cutaways to scenes outside of Katniss's perspective in the Capitol, 5, 7 and 11. There are no more "games" – which means no more reapings, no more chariots, or any of that lead up. Mockingjay has well and truly reinvented the franchise to reveal what 'The Hunger Games' series at its core is really all about and gives us a shocking and horrifying portrayal of war in Panem and how media manipulation is used through the use of propaganda videos ("propos") in battle to control the populous.
The film's split was not a problem at all. Out of the three novels in the Hunger Games series, 'Mockingjay' was easily the novel that required a split to fully flesh out the characters and to give justice to their arcs. There is a clear objective at the beginning of the film, laid out by our heroine and by the end, that objective is solved but also sets up another plot line that will most definitely be followed up on in next year's final chapter 'Mockingjay – Part 2′. The way the creative team are handling the split feels slightly like a television show – you get 24 episodes in a season, and that is usually split into two with a mid season break in between. Part 1 ends with a bang, it has a conclusion and resolution, but you know the story isn't over just yet.
Overall, 'Mockingjay – Part 1′ manage to overcomes its obstacles to become another dark, epic and very chapter in the unstoppable 'Hunger Games' franchise. The film will surely make back its entire budget for both films alone within the first week of release alone. If 'Mockingjay – Part 1′ is anything to go by, than next year's 'Mockingjay – Part 2′ will be an absolute treat as we follow Katniss and her squad in their final journey to stop the Capitol. And I can't freaking wait.