"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014, PG-13)

 
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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