Remember when it was announced that the final book in the series, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, was going to split into two films? Remember how dumb that seemed? First off, it wasn't even the longest Harry Potter book and every one was only one film. Second, if any book needed to be two films it was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which was stuffed to the brim with story and ended up a mediocre, rushed film. But the cash-grab idea caught fire and we soon saw the fourth Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, broken up into two films, a Hobbit book adapted into three films, and now Mockingjay, a relatively short 400 page young adult novel, turned into two films. When will this end? I'm guessing as soon as people see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. The reason is quite simple: this didn't need to be two films. There's actually barely enough of anything for one compelling film. And what you definitely do not want is an entire film that is all build up with no pay-off. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 1 had some big action set pieces that made it at least entertaining. Breaking Dawn Part 1 had some big moments including a girl getting married, deflowered, and becoming a vampire. Mockingjay Part 1 is all set-up. It's like a prologue, an appetizer. It is not something you want to go out of your way and pay $11.50 or whatever to see. It will leave you wanting more, yes, obviously, but also unsatisfied and feeling a little bit ripped off. Not to say that it's a bad movie. It's good in spots. It's just missing too much to feel like a real movie.
If you read the books then you know that this third and final book is perhaps the best written but also the most depressing and the least entertaining. The reason it's my least favorite book in the trilogy is because there's no Hunger Games in it. Even though pitting kids against one another on live TV is a rip-off of everything from The Running Man to The Lord of the Flies to Battle Royale, the excitement, brutality, and drama of the games were what made the first two books and two films so compelling. The third book and film is post-games. It's the lowly rebels of this futuristic society versus the big, powerful, evil city The Capital and its God, President Snow. Mockingjay Part 1 features Katniss, played by Jennifer Lawrence, growing accustomed to her life in the underground District 13 and watching as a war breaks out all around her. All of the usual players are back, although Philip Seymour Hoffman and Woody Harrelson are the only two entertaining and interesting ones. Hoffman gives a laid back, playful, convincing job. Perhaps it's because he's dead that his greatness is amplified, but he really does save this film from being a paint-by-numbers dystopian sci-fi flick like Divergent. It doesn't help that Jennifer Lawrence seems to only be a good actor when she's not being serious, Julianne Moore is practically playing a piece of cardboard, and Liam Hemsworth, who plays Gale, is about as engaging as a rock.
With so little to work with the film is surprisingly never dull and it does look good. There's some nice apocalyptic shots of destroyed, crumbled cities, a good quiet shot of Gayle and Katniss by a rushing river, and a very cool but eerily similar shot of soldiers dropping down into a city that's reminiscent of a shot in Godzilla earlier this year. But the director, Francis Lawrence (who, unfortunately, was the one that ruined Richard Matheson's I Am Legend by adding a metropolis and Will Smith, among other atrocities), and the cinematographer, Jo Willems, have saved the best scene for last. The last shot, with a character strapped down in a white room on a white bed and thrashing wildly while Katniss peers sadly through the window, is solemn, unflinchingly sad, and not what you expect from a mega-budget popcorn film. It's a terrific final shot. And while it's a great final five seconds, what we all really wanted was something more, at least one great action set piece, a bigger chunk of story, something. Otherwise, what's here leaves us mostly
unfulfilled. **1/2 (****)
