THE HUNGER GAMES : MOCKINGJAY PART 1 (2014)

THE  HUNGER  GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 (2014)

Tagline: Fire burns brighter in the darkness.

(Action, Sci-Fi, What The Heck Did They Do To Peeta?) [PG-13]

 I have a message for President Snow. You can torture us and bomb us and burn our districts to the ground. But do you see that? Fire is catching... And if we burn... you burn with us!

In this one, we get our first real glimpse of the much-whispered-about District 13. The Capital has taken harsh measures against all the districts but 12 is now decimated. President Coin convinces Katniss to do a series of infomercials to try and drum up a full-blown rebellion against President Snow (seriously, it’s like the writer found a coin in the snow and decided… “oh cool, these are going to be the names of the Presidents in my book.” Anyway, Katniss sucks at acting so she decides to go into the field and see what’s been going on herself. Overall this film not only carries the weight of the other 2 films but it brings us all to the start of the series inevitable “let’s fight” conclusion. 

There are several things I didn’t like about this one, and it does feel a bit like not much is happening till about the last 45 minutes or so. Jennifer Lawrence is once again better than superb in her role and I was pleasantly surprised by Natalie Dormer (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER) as Cressida and felt it was a wise casting choice to give her more screen time. I do however wish we could get at least one new film from Julianne Moore where her hair is just totally jacked and gray looking.

Overall after the first two films and a connection with the characters, I felt this one did the best job of tugging at the heartstrings. It does have a decent blend of action and drama with moderate layers of cinematic know-how. Having said that, the story is not nearly as engaging as the first 2 films and so far it's the only one that doesn't actually have any "Hunger Games".

Also like always remember – this is the movie based on the book. It is not the book. I haven’t read the book…so you know….I could care less if they match. This one has a few surprises as well. 

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