Following her survival from the staggering Quarter Quell, Katniss rises and shines in the complex underneath the evidently wrecked District 13. Her home, District 12, has been lessened to rubble, and Peeta is presently the spelled hostage of President Snow. In the meantime, she likewise finds out about a mystery defiance spreading all through all of Panem.
Critics Of "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1"
The Atlantic
November 21, 2014
Might it have been better if they'd squeezed the whole book into one movie? Probably. Nonetheless, Mockingjay Part 1 is a fine entertainment, shot through with moments of surprising emotional impact.
This is certainly a film adults can get into. The explosions, propaganda techniques, and unrest are a reminder of a history not entirely out of reach; a world and society all too realistic. for many living today.
It's an elaborate game of hurry-up-and-wait. And it's the most shameless example yet of splitting the final book in a hugely popular series into two film adaptations.
Considering the 'Hunger Games'' teen demographic, a somber, dark, political drama/grimy-bunker flick would seem guaranteed to adversely affect the holy Hollywood bottom line.
As an actress, Lawrence has grown beyond this sort of thing, and the entire enterprise, directed by Francis Lawrence, feels like a massive placeholder for the grand finale.
At its best, this half-Mockingjay details a kind of unhealthy propaganda therapy as Katniss and Peeta head toward their inevitable reunion. But it's not really enough to sustain a satisfying two-hour feature.
Mockingjay has more exposition than a TED Talk, more rubble than a decade of The Flintstones, and absolutely no nonmonetary reason to be Part 1 of anything. It isn't storytelling. It's a filibuster.
It's still highly watchable, mainly because of the cast and the pawn-or-plotter dilemma that thrusts itself into Katniss's anxious existence. But.. it's hard not to feel that the material has been spread out too thin.
It expands its dystopian universe in a way that's both thrilling to its young target audience as well as developing the social and political problems facing Panem in a way that's rather satisfying.
