Film Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. Rated M (mature themes and violence). 123 minutes. Directed by Francis Lawrence. Screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong. Based on the novel by Suzanne Collins.

Verdict: A bloated outing for the first of the two-part cinematic climax to The Hunger Games.

Beginning where The Hunger Games: Catching Fire left us, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) has been relocated to District 13, a rebel-held underground fortress, to recover from the Games. It is in District 13 that the rebellion against The Capitol is overseen by President Coin (Julianne Moore) and Plutarch Heavensbee (the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, to whom the film is dedicated).

Knowing Katniss is capable of inspiring people to rise up against The Capitol’s President Snow (Donald Sutherland), Coin invites her to assume the title of ‘Mockingjay’, a symbol of the rebellion. Once she witnesses the extent of the destruction inflicted on the Districts, Katniss agrees to take on the responsibility, but only if the brain-washed Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), who Snow is using a weapon to destroy Katniss' influence over the rebels, is rescued from The Capitol and reunited with her.

Whether it is because the final book in the trilogy is being turned into two films (a trend that began with The Hobbit, then the Harry Potter and Twilight films), or that there are not actually any sequences involving the infamous Games, Mockingjay – Part 1 is a mostly forgettable affair. While it ramps up the tension and the action in the second half, much of the first half ambles along in a bloated, self-satisfied manner that is completely at odds with its cinematic pedigree.

Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Water for Elephants, I Am Legend, Constantine) and the always excellent Jennifer Lawrence work wonders with the material’s limited range. And while it might be long time to have waited, the final sequences between Peeta and Katniss are extraordinarily powerful, with Hutcherson bringing real acting clout to the screen for the first, and possibly only, time in the entire movie.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Rated M (mature themes and violence). 146 minutes. Directed by Francis Lawrence. Written by Simon Beaufoy and Michael deBruyn.

Verdict: Treading water with Katniss and clan suffers from second-of-three books syndrome.

Beginning where The Hunger Games (2012) left us, our victorious ‘tributes’ Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peter (Josh Hutcherson) are paraded through the Districts at the behest of President Snow (Donald Sutherland) in a public relations exercise. As the poverty-stricken population become increasingly resentful of Katniss’s apparent capitulation to the Capital’s oppressive regime, Snow decides that to stamp out the murmurings of another uprising, Katniss must be eliminated.

With the help of a new game creator Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Snow announces that a Quarter Quell (a variation of The Hunger Games) will take place, with the contestants selected from the victors of past games. Realising she will have to compete against Peter again, Katniss makes a deal with her mentor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) that whatever happens, Peter must survive.

Returning to this epic second instalment is like being reunited with old friends and the friends of theirs you don’t especially like. It’s no-one’s fault – but rather the over-riding sense that any kind of follow-up to the extraordinary debut of this series (and Ms Lawrence in particular) was always going to be problematic.

Wisely, Francis Lawrence (Constantine, I Am Legend, Water for Elephants) who replaced the director of the first film Gary Ross (reportedly due to production schedule concerns), doesn’t mess with the formula and gives his stellar cast their heads. They reward him with outstanding performances of roles that fit them like gloves.

Where the problem lies (as it did with the Twilight series) is that Catching Fire is the second of three books – so its task is pad out the story while we wait for the killer climax. Unfortunately, we’re well into ‘how much longer has it got to go?’ territory by the time the Quarter Quell kicks off, and nothing at stake under the dome this time (spooky fog and cranky monkeys) comes close to the horror and ingenuity of all that was at stake in the first film. But if you don’t know (or guess) what’s coming, then the build to the sense of what the final film (which, again like Twilight, will be split into two servings) will offer, is tantalising. And Catching Fire will most certainly do for the time being.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.