The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Movie Review

Mockingjay is the third and final book in The Hunger Games series, and is often considered to be the weakest. However, like certain other books, it is being split into two movies to make more money. Because of all this, I think that the movie was far from the standards of the previous two movies.

In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, the nation of Panem is on the verge of revolution. Katniss is appointed as a symbol for the rebellion, and works to create propaganda for the soldiers.

First of all, this movie definitely didn't need to be in two parts. This annoying trend of splitting movies into multiple parts was started when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows was split into two parts. This was a good move, because the last third of the book had so much action it needed an entire movie to display all of it. As a result, that second half is considered a high point for the series. However, other books like Twilight and The Hobbit have taken similar approaches, even though their books didn't need more than one movie. And The Hunger Games is taking the same ill-advised route.

As a result, the movie feels incomplete. Also, this is a pretty slow-moving film, as the first half of the book was not particularly exciting. Though there are a few major plot points presented here, most of it is Katniss shooting propaganda commercials, with little else exciting happening. And there was not enough material in that half to make a two hour movie.

Which is a shame, because there are some pretty good performances and good direction, and it could have been an intriguing movie. Unfortunately, it's downfall was that it was made in two parts. If they had made the entire book into one movie, it could have been so much better. But instead it just feels like they're preparing us for Part 2.

I don't even think that the decision to split the book in two will even help the second part. Even though there was plenty of action in the rest of the book, I don't think it could be easily stretched into a full movie.

So in conclusion, this could have been a good movie if it wasn't split in two. But since it was, it is very disappointing.

2.5 out of 5 stars