The series is back on track.

Rating: 7/10 (23 November 2015)

Rather ironically, the extremely disappointing Catching Fire all but extinguished my interest in The Hunger Games franchise, delivering more of the same, but with less regard for logic. Yesterday, I begrudgingly watched Mockingjay Pt 1 with my son, and was surprised at how much I liked it.
What makes this penultimate chapter so much better than its predecessor—despite being rather light in the action department—is the progression in the story, which is now far more epic in scope, following Katniss as she leaves the confines of the Hunger Games arena to become The Mockingjay, the face of District 13's rebellion against President Snow and his dictatorship. What started out as a rather blatant teen version of Battle Royale has developed into a complex, gritty political drama wrought with emotion, its star Jennifer Lawrence now able to deliver a powerful performance worthy of her talent.
Having fanned life back into the once dying embers, I hope that Mockingjay part 2 will end the series with a bang, packing in some of the action that this one clearly held back from delivering.