Ephemeris of the Mind (Film Review) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
Time to read: 2 min read
Movie Poster
Miss Everdeen, it is the things we love most that destroys us.
Previous Hunger Games film reviews:
Review
For some film adaptations, such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and even The Hobbit trilogy, one can make a case for why there needs to be multiple films per book. Mockingjay, however, is not one such book. The book lacks enough content as it is and stretching that content across two films exasperates the issue. The story follows Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) as she adjusts to life in District 13 as the face of the rebellion against the Capitol.
The main fault of the movie is with its pacing and buildup. The bulk of the movie is spent building up toward a climax that never occurs in this movie. The few instances of excitement within this film is ruined by the extremely slow pacing. It felt like an extended director's cut of a movie where they included every possible scene they can.
The character and set design, as with the previous two films, are both excellent. Lawrence plays a traumatized Katniss while Liam Hemsworth plays a vengeful Gale. Secondary characters such as Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Plutarch Heavensbee, Willow Shields’ Primrose Everdeen, and Jena Malone’s Johanna Mason are given more screen time. I liked the new additions to the cast, such as Mahershala Ali’s Boggs and Julianne Moore’s Alma Coin.
Conclusion
Very long and boring film with a few exciting moments.