So here we have it, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -Part 1, the final chapter in the saga of Katniss Everdeen, Suzanne Collin’s dynamic archer-turned-rebel who’s become a symbol of power for ‘tween girls across the country and an object of desire, if not a bit of fear, for adolescent boys everywhere. It’s so good to see that like so many other Hollywood studios, Lionsgate is making sure this piece of fine literature is being presented on the screen in its entirety by dividing it into two parts. Dismiss the cynical notion that they are doing this just so fans will have to pay twice to see the entire adaptation. Oh no, this is all about artistic integrity and keeping Collins’ complete, original vision in tact.
When last we left our heroine, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) had just thrown the country of Panem into turmoil by disrupting the latest edition of the Hunger Games. Instead, of being a symbol of oppression for the masses, this nationally televised event has served as a platform for rebellion, which is based in District 13, a section of the country that had supposedly been wiped off the map. However, this military-based society built a massive underground city where its leader, President Coin (Julianne Moore) has been waiting for a sign to move against the capital. She gets it in Katniss, who, having been shuttled to 13, is hesitant to help. She fears that anything she may do to foster revolution will result in harm being done to her boyfriend Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), who she suspects is being held against his will to push forward President Snow’s (Donald Sutherland) agenda.
Coin and former Capital game-maker Plutarch (Philip Seymour Hoffman), want to use Katniss in a similar way, hoping to use her as a propaganda tool to help unite the districts in an effort to overturn the Capitol. Her reluctance to do so is resolved with a quick visit to her home, District 12, which has been turned to rubble, and being caught in an attack on innocents in District 8. These two events light a rebellious fire in her belly and she willingly becomes Coin’s instrument.
Mockingjay is a curious film and is flawed in many of the same ways that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 was. The movie’s pace is far too leisurely and it comes off as an extended preview for the concluding chapter of this saga. Plot points that could have been wrapped up in 45 minutes are stretched to a point where they flirt with tedium. Katniss’s reticence to embrace the rebel’s cause is ridiculous and in having her delay what should be an obvious decision, makes her come off as less than sincere and, frankly, a bit addled. It’s rather ironic that while Plutarch states again and again that the key to stoking a successful rebellion is to strike quickly, the film adopts the opposite strategy.
As directed by Francis Lawrence, the movie has a dire tone that perfectly suits the material. A sense of dread and melancholy hangs over the story and that fact that nearly all of the primary characters, Peeta particularly, are seriously damaged in some way, gives the film enough dramatic weight to keep us engaged. Equally entertaining is a commando raid late in the story that Lawrence stages for maximum suspense, providing us with a much-needed jolt, serving as a precursor for Part 2 which surely will be top heavy with action.
As with the first two entries in the series, Lawrence is the straw that stirs the drink here. Her unwavering conviction in the role of Katniss is obviously infectious as her peers in the film up their game whenever they share the screen with her, while the actress is never in danger of being overshadowed by the veteran members of the cast. She manages to invest a sense of urgency in the film that it otherwise lacks. And while it might not be fair to say that her efforts alone make this overlong episode bearable, I’d be hard-pressed bringing to mind a scene from Mockingjay where she wasn’t front and center.
