Film Review – The Hunger Games: Mockinjay Part One (2014)

It is a dark time for the rebellion. District 12 lies in ruins in the aftermath of Capitol reprisals following Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) destruction of The Hunger Games arena. With Peeta still missing, she is taken to District 13, hotbed of the embryonic insurgence, where she must deal with her post-Games psychological trauma and Plutarch Heavensbee’s (Philip Seymour Hoffman) plans to make her ‘the Mockingjay’, the poster girl for the simmering civil war.

Previous instalment,The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, injected a much-needed element of danger and a sense of Orwellian cynicism into what was a positively frothy, blancmange of a franchise. The question is, can the first part of the series finale carry on that good work, heighten the tension and elevate the films to a status above that of the average dystopian tween sci-fi?

Fifteen minutes in and, as Katniss tramps across the battle-scarred woodland of District 12, cheerlessly avoiding the scorched remains of her recently departed neighbours, it’s pretty clear that director, Francis Lawrence has retained that adult sensibility. Broadly speaking, the most interesting themes: oppression, revolution and shady, iniquitous media exploitation are all still present. After surviving her second Games, Katniss is dragged through the ringer once more, forced to film promotional vignettes to boost the popularity of the cause. Modern warfare, it seems is fought across many battlefields.

This sinister look at the rigours of information warfare is underpinned by typically assured performances by Julianne Moore as conflicted and cautious President Coin and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as the charismatic Heavensbee. Lawrence‘s Everdeen is as reluctant a hero as ever, but her rabble-rousing leader credentials continue to grow, intrigue and impress.

Maddeningly, the decision has been made to split this final book into two separate films. A chance to let the story grow and the material shine over the course of two parts, or a cynical exercise in dangling the audiences by its collective ankles and shaking out their money? On the basis of this first film I’m inclined to plump for the latter choice. The Hunger Games:Mockingjay Part One seems to be suffering a case of ‘Hobbit Syndrome’, whereby scant source material is tediously teased out to breaking point. The film never really builds to anything like a crescendo and we end on a curiously bum-note following a climactic set piece that rather fizzles out.

I wonder if the best is being saved for last? Certainly the beginning of the end has the air of a franchise which is over-reaching. The darker, dirtier The Hunger Games of Catching Fire is still just about visible, but it’s impact has undoubtedly been lessened through excessive dilution.

★★★

Genre: Sci-fi, Adventure Distributor:Lionsgate Films Release Date: 20th November 2014 (UK) Rating: 12A Director:Francis Lawrence Cast: Jennifer Lawrence,Donald Sutherland, Julianne Moore, Liam Hemsworth, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks,

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chris Banks

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