While I
don’t think Mockingjay needed to be split into two films, I’m
pleased with the overall effect. Unlike
other Part 1 movies I could name, it feels like a complete film on its own,
with no prevailing sense that it’s just set-up for next year’s main
attraction. It doesn’t drag, but moves
along at a good pace while allowing a little extra time for color and character
moments – though I think Catching Fire
is excellent, plenty of good stuff from it feels rushed or short-changed.
It’s
impossible to talk specifically about any Hunger
Games installment without spoiling earlier twists, so my discussion of the
general premise will spoil a few things that came before. Consider yourself warned. Mockingjay
finds Katniss a wreck after the events of Catching
Fire; her district is in smoldering ruins, Peeta is being held prisoner in
the Capitol, and in her underground sanctuary with the rebels of District 13,
she’s expected to step up and be the face of a revolution. However, much like the Games relied so
heavily on media and image, Katniss is called on to be more of an emblem than a
leader. It’s Katniss, so you know she’s
not just going to sit back and do what she’s told, but the vision District 13
has is of a gorgeous freedom fighter giving stirring speeches and wielding prop
weapons in front of a camera.
I’ve
always liked this element of the series, the emphasis on the power of images, of
media manipulation. In the Games,
Katniss was a pawn of the Capitol, and here, she’s asked to be a pawn for the
other side. It muddies the waters in a
good way, because there’s subterfuge and propaganda no matter where she is, and
her world doesn’t divide neatly between those wearing white and black
hats. I love her inner struggle between
consenting to be the “mockingjay” and wanting to make a more tangible
contribution to the war effort, whether it’s to get into the fray and fight or
to help ease people’s suffering. In a
way, it’s a lot like Steve’s plot in Captain
America, wherein the army tries to turn him into a symbol rather than let
him be a soldier.
The
film does a nice job following the book.
It hits the major beats well and leaves room for more of the “little”
moments that didn’t get a lot of screentime in the first two films (not
entirely, of course – in particular, Finnick seems to get the short straw much
of the time.) Additionally, it fleshes
out some of the outside-world elements, which I love. It’s really affecting to see slogans and themes
from Katniss’s televised “propos” appropriated for scenes of the districts
rebelling. It ties her plot in better
with the larger story of what’s going on in Panem.
Jennifer
Lawrence is, predictably, wonderful.
While Katniss’s PTSD isn’t as prominent in the film as in the book,
Lawrence beautifully captures her pain, desperation, and inner conflict. As Peeta, Josh Hutcherson makes the most of
his reduced role and makes me excited to see what he’s going to do with Peeta’s
story in Part 2, and Sam Claflin’s performance as a more shell-shocked Finnick
is a great contrast to his work in Catching
Fire. Among the adult cast, Woody
Harrelson as Haymitch, Julianne Moore as President Coin, and Elizabeth Banks as
Effie are especially great, and it’s cool to see Natalie Dormer (Margaery
Tyrell or Jamie Moriarty, depending on your fandom) as the subversive filmmaker
Cressida.
Warnings
Violence
(including implied torture,) some disturbing images, and thematic elements.
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