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Nov 21, 2014 · Hunger Games champion Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) survived multiple iterations of the books' nationally televised, gladiator-styled, bread-and-circuses reality show, then was cynically positioned by the evil President Snow ( Donald Sutherland) as a false figure of inspiration.
- We all burn together.
- Verdict
By Roth Cornet
Posted: Nov 11, 2014 1:15 am
The Hunger Games was never about The Hunger Games. The first two films and books set the foundation, and one or the other may ultimately emerge as a favorite. It is in Mockingjay, however, that we are able to get to the heart of the series and what it’s exploring: war, rebellion, politics, greed, the dangerous edge of idealism, and, ultimately, human nature. That may sound a bit hyperbolic, given that we’re talking about a young adult series. As someone who appreciates both Suzanne Collins’ books and what director Francis Lawrence, and Gary Ross before him, have brought to the cinematic adaptations, I find that it’s those fundamental investigations that elevate this fable beyond what may have otherwise been just a clever gimmick. This isn’t meant to overstate the matter, it’s just to say that The Hunger Games is very good at being what it is: a worthy YA franchise.
The allegories are broad, as they often are in works of fiction that touch on social commentary and in particular in a narrative that is meant to appeal to adolescents. Yet, they resonate and are all too relatable. Beneath the heightened circumstances, there is the ring of truth. It’s hard to imagine that anyone will ever again compare The Hunger Games films to the Twilight Saga or dismiss them as little more than a pale imitation of Battle Royale. Mockingjay is, of course, fundamentally meant to be an engaging piece of entertainment – and it delivers on that front. However, it’s also a story in which the protagonist can be looked at as not just an unlikely hero, but a deconstruction of what a hero is or is meant to be.
Having escaped – or, in this case, been rescued from – the Games for a second time, Katniss Everdeen finds herself at the center of a rebellion against the Capital. Delivered on a silver platter to the once-hidden District 13 like a prize pig who will still one day be sent to slaughter, a battle-damaged Katniss is expected to fall in line as The Mockingjay; the figurehead of a war she never asked for.
We follow the rebellion through the eyes of the characters we have already come to know and care for. In that way, the film is at once personal and expansive. Both the motivation for, and the cost of this war are personal for each of them. They experience the conflict in a direct and gruesome manner, rather than as an intangible series of statistics rattled off on a television screen humming in the background. The brutality and toll is felt throughout, just as the Games demonstrated the unholy demands of the Capital’s “peace.”
Mockingjay is the fulfillment of the journey that the initial two stories set Katniss Everdeen on. Splitting the book in two means that the first film will inherently feel incomplete. However, this is a strong installment in the franchise. Designed to translate complex notions into a story that works for young adult audiences, The Hunger Games seri...
- Roth Cornet
Nov 21, 2014 · The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 sets up the franchise finale with a penultimate chapter loaded with solid performances and smart political subtext, though it comes up short on the action...
- (6.4K)
- Francis Lawrence
- PG-13
- Jennifer Lawrence
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Nov 20, 2014 · The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 review – Jennifer Lawrence still engages in this operatic nightmare. The YA drama seems to be evolving toward superheroism, showing Katniss Everdeen’s ...
- 2 min
- Peter Bradshaw
Nov 12, 2014 · The first of two films adapted from the final book of Suzanne Collins’s bestselling Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay Part 1, is a multimillion dollar stopgap.
- Henry Barnes
Nov 19, 2014 · Reviews. Movie Review. 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' review: this is how a revolution dies. It's hard to make a blockbuster about a hero of non-action. By Adi Robertson. on November...
Nov 10, 2014 · By Justin Chang. Katniss Everdeen becomes the face of a revolution in “Mockingjay — Part 1,” a tricky transitional episode of “The Hunger Games” franchise that abandons the reality-TV bloodsports...
