Wow. Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. Wow.
It takes a lot for a movie to have me this emotionally invested, in spite of the fact that I don’t personally identify with the main character all that much. The film does so much right. The acting is very good, as usual, and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s “animation” is unnoticeable in just about every scene (with the exception of his first scene, oddly enough). The music works, the lighting works, the editing works, the cinematography works, and it all fits together nicely. The sets are really impressive as well, though it’s hard to tell which were built and which were just CGI.
The story is intriguing and well-built, with good twists and turns, even though a few of them are somewhat predictable. It’s clever and delightful, at some points making me beam with excitement, and at other times just about bring me to tears, which hardly ever happens. The pace is a little slow for my taste, and the humor is lacking, but this is not a comedy, so I guess that’s okay even if it makes the movie less appealing to me. The focus on the marketing and propaganda involved in war is delightful, making this film of particular interest to me since that is the element of war I find most fascinating. The ending, as other reviewers have pointed out, is really its biggest problem. I fully agree with Doug Walker that the second film in the series cut at just the right time, and this one did not – it really needed to cut sooner.
Despite my minor issues with it, it’s a good movie. Even if you’re not into action or war movies, just as I usually am not, it is still totally worth seeing.
