'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' - Review

Having failed to keep her head down and having escaped the second round of the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her allies hunker down in the bowels of District 13, planning their revolution to topple the capitol, under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore). With her home destroyed and fellow games-survivor Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) behind enemy lines, Katniss must decide whether or not to stand as the symbol of the revolution.

What gives Mockingjay Part 1 a slight edge over its predecessor is that the repetitive element of going back into the games is dropped and the story is able to move into a new direction, and it’s very impressive how the defiant spirit is alive and tangible now the oppressive aura of the games has lifted. With the exception of Philip Seymour Hoffman as Heavensbee (who spends the film slyly grinning from the side-lines as everything falls into place), everyone appears to be building towards something, ready to drop everything and give their life for the cause.

Jennifer Lawrence is spectacular, managing to still find new things to do with her role and proving to everyone why she remains the lauded face of the modern film star. The array of supporting cast all shine, notably Elizabeth Banks as Effie – who arguably is given greater room to develop than anyone else – and Sam Claflin as pretty-boy turned heartbroken rebel Finnick. Even the Josh Hutcherson problem of the previous films (that problem being that he couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag) is solved by the story itself not needing him very much.

Something I find admirable about this film in comparison to the previous movies is that – for what is essentially a teen action movie – it spends a majority of its time building characters, investing time in the unravelling of the plot and keeping the audience engrossed in the story, and even when the action sequences rear their head the CG and explosions are handled just as carefully and just as involving as the rest, even if the final set-piece is all over the shop.

Mockingjay is also a very important note in the Hunger Games series musically: James Newton Howard is finally given room to breathe outside the games arena, providing a powerful soundtrack that really deserves more attention than the ‘soundtrack’ currently topping the charts (basically a bunch of songs with the poster plastered over the album cover). There is also a central set piece involving a love song which really harkens back (albeit in a more populist form) to the punk-rock idea of music as a weapon of the revolution, to not only speak out against the oppressors but to belt out your dissatisfaction from the rooftops.

Willing to go to dark places, unafraid of injecting a little humour and unashamed when it comes to favouring emotions over effects, Mockingjay Part 1 may be laden with a few too many rousing speeches and a stumbling final act but it reaches furiously for the heights of its predecessor and falls but a degree short. If this is the opening salvo, fans and audiences alike have much to look forward to in the final chapter.

★★★★☆