"If we burn, you burn with us!"
After the events of the 75th annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is recovering from escaping from the field. Her best friend, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) has been captured by the Capitol along with other tributes, while Katniss recovers in District 13. Suffering from early signs of PTSD, Katniss revisits her district (District 12) to find it bombed and destroyed. Meanwhile, President Coin (Julianne Moore) is looking for a "mockingjay" to lead a Panem-infused rebellion against the Capitol. Katniss is approached, and accepts the position.
The actors do great work with the work they are given. Most impressive, as always, is Lawrence. Especially at the beginning, she is incredibly-convincing and emotionally raw as Katniss. Unlike the battle-infused first two movies, she is allowed to show more of her acting chops in this movie. In an interesting twist, Lawrence also sings briefly, and she does a very good job in front of the camera.
The other actors hold their own besides Lawrence. Given very little to do here, Hutcherson does good work as Peeta. Recent Oscar winner Julianne Moore makes a good President Coin, with silver hair and a fiery disposition. Donald Sutherland brings a mildly sinister tone to President Snow. In one of his final roles, Phillip Seymour Hoffman is solid as Plutarch. The returning Elizabeth Banks and Woody Harrelson continue to prove they can act well outside of their comfort zone, and Liam Hemsworth and Willow Shields do solid work here too.
The visual effects are solid, though they take a backseat to the elaborate production and costume design. Characters contrast from the brightly-colored Capitol, to the dark-colored rebels of District 13. The cinematography is swooping from aerial views to close-ups. The war scenes are exciting. The music score by James Newton Howard is very solid. Finally, there's a few good jokes peppered into the mix. Heroism and the positive and negative effects of war are on display.
On the downside, being a third book broken into two movies, this first part does drag some in spots, and can come across as too long. At an hour and 50 minutes, not much happens besides some war propaganda and a few exciting scenes. If they could have made the entire book into one movie, it might have worked better and have been better-paced.
The Hunger Games seems to be the epitome of young adult fiction. The books are wildly popular. The movies have broken records. And, while they have drawn some controversy, they also have carried more depth and complexity than many other franchises Hollywood has made or adapted for that matter. Watching the first movie on TV, it was a hard film to watch. Seeing the visceral and hardcore, camera-shaking violence was nothing short of disturbing.
It should also be noted though that these movies serve as a reminder of the imperfections of an imagined futuristic dystopia. Perfection is striven for by these controlling "governments", and yet, they are proven to not even come close to reaching it. These ideas, in addition to supposed strong role models, intrigue audiences, especially teenagers. But, focusing on this one movie by itself, Mockingjay has its share of sophistication and somewhat confusing concepts. I haven't watched Catching Fire so I did have to do my research as far as how things came to be here.
But, in the midst of the blink-and-you'll miss it understanding, its all well-done. The story has depth. The characters are more developed here than what you would see in a typical Hollywood blockbuster. And, visual grandeur wisely takes a backseat. In addition to that, it has become such a huge coup for Lionsgate to continue to have Lawrence headline this franchise. She's a fantastic actress. She brings sincerity, vigor and a strong sense of realism to Katniss.
And, in another terrific fact that I didn't mention earlier, blockbusters now usually have drugs, nudity, profanity, alcohol and sexuality peppered in. All of which Mockingjay has practically zero of. Considering it ended up the biggest movie of 2014 stateside and that it doesn't follow the "more mature and messy" route Insurgent took, its' more than refreshing to see a well-made, well-written movie to be amazingly low on content problems.
Score: 7.7/10
Content Problems Families Should Be Aware Of:
Language: None.
Adult Content: None. Someone subtly reveals he was a male prostitute at one point (but the idea is shown more as an evil rather than good).
Violence: Not quite as visceral and disturbing as the previous Hunger Games movies, but still kinda scary at times. A few bombings. Katniss walks into one site already bombed and finds a skull underneath her foot. People are gunned down and killed (with no blood shown). A few other assorted explosions and a moderate body count. Someone throws Katniss on the ground and nearly chokes her to death. Some realistic peril and quite a bit of screaming.
Drugs/Alcohol: None.
Other: Some manipulation.
