After 123 minutes of suspense, horror and destruction, the time has come when all viewers of Mockingjay loathe the long year ahead as they await the final part of The Hunger Games trilogy. With the second installment of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay” slated to release Nov. 20, 2015, plenty of time remains for those who skimped on reading the books to finally begin and complete the trilogy.
TRUE TO THE SOURCE MATERIAL
Francis Lawrence sticks to the script given to him by Suzanne Collins, pleasing the readers as well as including intricate details that often get overlooked when creating a visual representation of a piece of literature.
The audience immediately faces the pale, fear-stricken Katniss Everdeen balled up in a corner, repeating a mantra to keep her sanity. The disorientation and intensity of this opening scene sets the stage for what is to come. Rebellion boils under the Earth’s surface in District 13, where survivors of District 12 live among the military personnel who fought in what was thought to be the previous war that actually never ceased.
The leaders of the rebellion, a cold President Alma Coin played by Julianne Moore, and familiar face Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Quarter Quell game maker, balance each other as co-leaders. The two convince Katniss to become the face of the rebellion after they agree to her request to rescue and give immunity to the tributes held hostage in the Capitol, mainly Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) who President Snow (Donald Sutherland) uses to mock and attempt to defeat Katniss and the rebellion. They then proceed to film her in different locations such as the smoldering, morbid remains of District 12 and the rancid, wounded District 8. With fellow Tribute Beetee Latier (Jeffrey Wright) working tirelessly to hack into the Capitol’s broadcasting systems, telecasts of Katniss are relayed to all Districts as well as the Capitol, where the love of her life, Peeta, gets snippets of Katniss speaking. Snow and the rebellion use Katniss and Peeta to counteract each other’s moves.
After a white rose warning from President Snow of Peeta’s impending death, six volunteers, including Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), head into the Capitol to rescue the Tributes. The scene drags us through successes and failures of the mission and ends with the devastating reality that, although the three captive Tributes were rescued, Peeta is no longer Katniss’ star-crossed lover.
LIVING UP TO EXPECTATION
Filled with action and emotionally-heavy content, part one sets the finale up nicely, leaving people longing for resolve and forcing them to succumb to the money-driven separation of Collin’s final installation of The Hunger Games trilogy.
Lawrence continued excellent acting as she nailed her job as a distraught leader of the rebellion, emitting raw emotion that sold the story from beginning to end. Her strength carried the movie with the other characters feeding from her energy. Hutcherson, although not making a large appearance in this film, still presented strong acting, properly preparing consumers for part 2.
The third movie lived up to the expectation the two previous movies prepared it for, presenting great action and continuing the solid storyline from The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. More action, politics, war and passion help bring The Hunger Games movie trilogy to a level that pleases a plethora of audiences, from the action gurus to those who remain caught up in the love story of Katniss and Peeta.
