Where are the Hunger Games?

Rating: 6/10 (27 November 2014)

A Hunger Games movie with no Hunger Games? If that was the only problem with this movie.
I have no problem with splitting a book into two movies - it worked well with the final Harry Potter book/movies. It has not worked so well with this movie.
Why? The movie didn't work on it's own as a movie. It might work just fine as a "3rd of 4th" movie, but we won't know that until next year. At this point in time, all I can do is judge it as a movie on it's own - and how it builds on the movies before it.
And it just doesn't work.
Besides one scene in the middle in District 8, this movie is basically locked inside a bunker in District 13 and we watch Jennifer Lawrence looking angsty over Peeta for 2 hours. The climax isn't really a climax, but will have to serve for a bridge to the next movie.
The stellar cast is pretty much wasted - Woody Harrelson, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Stanly Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Julieanne Moore and Jeffrey Wright don't really have much to do. Add on top of that some terrific young actors - Sam Caflin, Natalie Dormer, Jena Malone, Willow Shields - who also don't have anything to do.
Only Elizabeth Banks' Effie Trinket shines in this movie in a twist on a character that I have grown to love over the course of these 3 movies.
Ultimately, this movie focuses on the "love triangle" between Lawrence's Katniss, Liam Hemsworth's Gale and Josh Hutcherson's Peeta. It isn't what I go to Hunger Games movies to see. Mockingjay, Part 2 better bring on the action.
6 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (of Marquis).