Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

Last we saw Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), she had shot the arrow that punctured the forcefield, short-circuited the Capitol's surveillance feed, and brought the Quarter Quell edition of the Hunger Games to a chaotic close. The rebellion's plan to rescue Katniss was revealed with Katniss and the rebel group headed for District 13.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, the first half of the trilogy's final installment, presents itself as the transitional breather from the intense adrenaline rush of its predecessor Catching Fire. This is a decidedly sober affair, bereft of the exuberant pageantry of the televised battle royales. Confined to the subterranean bunkers of District 13, Katniss is reunited with her mother and sister but she and Finnick (Sam Claflin) bear the guilt of those they left behind - Annie (Stef Dawson), Johanna (Jena Malone) and most especially Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), all of whom have been whisked back to the Capitol by the ever-menacing President Snow (Donald Sutherland, deliciously callous).

President Alma Coin (a steely Julianne Moore) and Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) urge Katniss to officially assume her role as the face of the rebellion, to become the titular Mockingjay so the other districts are roused to revolution. Sent to a relatively tame war zone, Katniss is accompanied by Gale and a documentary crew led by Cressida (Natalie Dormer) to shoot a series of propaganda films to further inspire the districts to fight the good fight. Snow counters with transmissions of the increasingly gaunt Peeta, who assures the populace of Panem that any acts of insurgency will not bring about peace.

Compared with the first two installments, Mockingjay - Part 1 certainly feels more staid and, dare I say, boring. This is not to say that it isn't a good film - in fact, it is a very good one - but it is a grimmer affair that may cause a tiny bit of restlessness in viewers not familiar with the source material. Elements of mass media manipulation, conspiracy thriller and Katniss's own internal struggle between the personal and political more than sustain the interest as do the brief action sequences. Still the film comes off as an extended set-up to the ultimate showdown.

As ever, the sterling cast prove their prowess with the consistently bland Hemsworth the sole exception. Lawrence is her usual compelling self as the flinty and reluctant Katniss; she embodies the role so perfectly that initial doubts at her casting are a footnote in the franchise's history. Woody Harrelson's Haymitch and Elizabeth Banks's Effie Trinket bring welcome doses of comic relief. Effie's colourful wigs and outrageous ensembles may be replaced with the drab greys of District 13's clothing, but she rocks a turban and a trapeze silhouette like nobody's business.

There's something fitting about the pairing of Moore and Hoffman in his penultimate role. Co-stars in Boogie Nights, Magnolia and The Big Lebowski, there's an ease between the two real-life friends that is lovely to watch. His Plutarch is a media-savvy jester - always a twinkle in the eye, smiling to a punchline only he understands, ever attuned to the power of the image. It's a wonderful turn and it is bittersweet that we won't be seeing much more of him.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

Directed by: Francis Lawrence

Written by: Peter Craig, Danny Strong; adapted from Suzanne Collins's novel

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Stanley Tucci, Willow Shields, Natalie Dormer