In many ways, The Hunger Games is better suited to a mini-series than films, as it creates a complex Venn diagram of political thriller, action-packed dystopian saga and media satire, as well as charting the emotional distress of a young woman thrust into a world where nothing is in her control. Mockingjay: Part 1 is the most episodic and action-free of the series so far, and a refresher viewing of at least the previous chapter, Catching Fire, is recommended to fully appreciate the emotional nuance.
This penultimate installment of the franchise sees Suzanne Collins’ final novel cut in two, here heading deep underground into growing rebellion. Deeply traumatised by the Hunger Games and distrustful of corrupt rulers, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) has grown wary of being used as a political puppet. However, with President Snow’s (Donald Sutherland) attacks on the District homelands turning more extreme, she agrees to star in revolution propaganda films in exchange for the rescue of her kidnapped love, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson).
The appeal of Katniss lies in her ambiguity; she’s a reluctant, reactive heroine, rather than proactive. Though she survives trials and trauma, she’s not a one dimensional Strong Female Character. She cries. She hurts. She despairs. And in Mockingjay, she breaks. Suffering PTSD, she becomes acutely selfish, putting missions and lives at risk to save the one boy who understands her pain. It’s a testament to Jennifer Lawrence that she makes Katniss empathetic if not particularly interesting. Without Collins’ inner monologues, the character remains inarticulate and personality-free.
Mockingjay’s action is also less intimate and thus less affecting than the previous films, but Francis Lawrence highlights the loss with gripping visuals – dusty ruins of skulls, sinister sheets of threat-filled white roses. Shaky cameras and quick cuts also evoke Katniss’ fractured mental state.
A tad overlong, with mediocre action but an emotional gut-punch of an ending, Mockingjay sets up the final chapter perfectly. An entertaining affair, then, if someway short of brilliance.