“The Hunger Games” movie franchise, based on Suzanne Collins’ wildly successful book series, reached greater heights with last year’s second installment, “Catching Fire”. The sequel proved to be stronger, both in quality and at the box office, than the original film. Unfortunately, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1”, the first half of the epic finale, is a major letdown.
As with other recent Part 1s, such as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”, you realize, going in, that most of the action, suspense and emotion is likely being saved for “THG: Mockingjay – Part 2” (which will be released next November). Still, this movie is shockingly dull, with no spark and (other than a nice late surprise), very little excitement. In fact, J-Law’s recent appearance on Letterman promoting the film was much more entertaining.
From the first minute it’s clear that “Mockingjay Pt. 1” is completely different from the two previous installments. The plots of those two films revolved around the “Games”, and a very mature subject: kids murdering other kids for the entertainment of society. In “Mockingjay” there are no games, but it has the most serious and darkest tone of the series. Returning director Francis Lawrence casts a gray overtone of gloom and desperation on Panem, whose citizens have been beaten down, physically and mentally.
At two hours and three minutes, “Mockingjay” is the shortest “Hunger Games” by about 20 minutes. And even though there is no competition, there are still psychological and relationship games being played: Katniss vs. the Capitol and the love triangle between Katniss, Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). Following the Quarter Quell, Katniss is stunned to learn that Peeta has been found alive, and is living inside the Capitol. However, Hutcherson’s role is much smaller than in the other films (but he still gets second billing – good agent!) Most of his scenes are interviews with talk show host Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci). On the other hand, Hemsworth’s screen time is double, maybe even triple, and his performance is actually one of the most pleasant surprises.
The established roles of Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), Effie (Elizabeth Banks) and even President Snow (Donald Sutherland) have also been reduced for “Mockingjay Pt. 1”, in favor of new cast members and other supporting players. Julianne Moore joins the ensemble and gives the standout performance as District 13 President Alma Coin, who works with Katniss as she becomes 13’s Mockingjay symbol for the Capitol Rebellion. And the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, who the film is dedicated to, once again has a few shining moments as Plutarch Heavensbee.
Much of the “Mockingjay” story, and at least half of the dialogue scenes, come as direct explanations to TV cameras, live crowds, and essentially us, the audience in the theater. You spend a lot of the film watching people talk and watching people who are watching people talk. Katniss’ new, spokesperson-type training quickly gets repetitive. And when the most suspenseful sequence of the entire movie involves Katniss, her sister and her cat racing to get through an automatic door before it closes, you know there’s a problem. Lawrence sings the “The Hanging Tree” at one point. The lyric “strange things did happen here” rang true as the scene dragged on, because it felt so out-of-place.
“Mockingjay – Part 1” is rated PG-13 for a few scenes of action/violence and mild disturbing images. Unlike the previous two, even diehards have no need to see this more than once, and many will undoubtedly walk out feeling genuinely disappointed.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” gets a C. It’s doesn’t lay an egg, but just never has the chance to soar. “Part 2” opens on November 20, 2015. For fans of this franchise, that date can’t come soon enough.