The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1: Movie Review

Beware: Spoilers for the First two movies, NONE for Mockingjay Part 1.


Hello blogosphere!
It has been a long time since I have posted something! Today I want to talk about 'The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1' which is the third film in the hugely successful 'The Hunger Games' franchise. I am a massive fan of The Hunger Games, I read the books in late 2011, a couple of months before the first movie came out. This film is based on the third book 'Mockingjay', however, just like many other popular movie franchises, the last book has been split into two parts. Mockingjay Part 1 is obviously the first part, and unlike the predecessors, this film is more slower paced but that doesn't mean it is any less interesting.

In this sequel, the movie starts just after what happened in the previous film (which finished with a cliffhanger). The film follows the main character Katniss Everdeen (portrayed by Oscar Winning actress Jennifer Lawrence) as she and the rest of the rebellion start to fight and rebel against the Capitol, controlled by President Snow (Donald Sutherland). 

Pros:

1. The Acting- There was not a single bad actor/actress in this film, Jennifer Lawrence as always, stands out as her performance of Katniss is so raw and believable. However I thought that Josh Hutcherson who plays Peeta Mellark was outstanding in this movie, in the previous movies he was good, but not great, However in 'Mockingjay Part 1', he pulls all the emotions out of the audience. Also, out of all the performances, I think that Effie Trinket, played by the talented Elizabeth Banks, is most true to her role and has the biggest  character development out of everyone.
2. The Cinematography- The movie was shot absolutely fantastically, every shot was groundbreaking and was placed perfectly. The shot of the remains of District 12 was breath-taking and I can definitely see how the budget cost $250 million.
3. The details-Now this is a thing that most book-to-movie adaptations don't include, Throughout 'The Hunger Games' books, we are in Katniss' Point of view and we don't see every small details about the other characters, in the film's we see so many little intricate details that make the book lovers notice things that they wouldn't before. For example, in this film, President Snow announces on live television, that any traces and signs of the Mockingjay symbol is banned, as he says this, Snow's grand-daughter slowly unties her 'Katniss' braid' in fear of her Grand-father. 
4. The Soundtrack- Now before I even saw this movie, I knew that Lorde (one of my favourite singers) would do the main song for this movie (Yellow Flicker Beat) and ever since the song has been released (late September) I loved it but wasn't sure how it would fit into 'Mockingjay', however it fit perfectly and the lyrics make much more sense now. Also Jennifer Lawrence sings 'The Hanging Tree', a song that Katniss heard when she was a child; Jennifer has such an amazing voice and it was breathtaking how they included it and it made me shed a tear or two. 

Cons:

In my opinion, I don't think that there were any flaws in this movie, I think that the director Francis Lawrence did a terrific job at making this movie and even though I know some critics have complained at it's much slower pace, I think that it was a good idea slowing it down because the next movie is going to blow everything out of the park. 'Mockingjay Part 2' will be a certain tear-jerker and boy, am I scared.

Grade: 5/5 stars