The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

For my review of these two movies, I'm going to be treating them as one movie and copy/pasting this review onto both movies. The only reason why this movie was split into two is because the studio wanted to make money. There is no other logical reason for this nonsense. Plot - This movie isn't very interesting or compelling. The first half is all filler while the second half is a series of semi-violent sequences of poorly choreographed action in between more boring filler. For the most part these movie are very predictable. Anything that is unpredictable is only made so due to the level of stupidity involved. I'm not sure if I can stress enough how much of this movie is boring filler. Characters - None of the actors really care anymore. The guy who plays Haymitch is still enjoyable, but he's a minor character. The characters are all as boring and idiotic and simplistic as they always were.Cinematography - The whole look of this movie is just as bad as the previous movies, but at some points its even worse. There isn't really anything to say about this movie. Its just a load of boring, predictable nonsense.

Fantastic film. Brilliant addition to the series even as part 1 of 2. Mockingjay has dispensed with the killing games of the 1st two instalments in favour of war, political power plays and the beginnings of a rebellion. There is also an underlying theme highlighting the power of the media and it's influence in such matters. This one is intense and really packs an emotional punch - aided by some excellent direction and some great acting from the lead players. It is sad to have the knowledge that we have now lost a talent like P.S. Hoffman - his Plutarch is a wonderful exercise in subtlety and intellectual prowess. An interesting match against the power of the capital, with it's abundant troop numbers and heavy firepower. He is a gifted strategist and the one who seems to really know what is going on. Jennifer Lawrence is excellent once again as Katniss. It is clearer now (than in the 1st two films) why she had been picked for this as she really makes you believe the up and downs of this difficult journey, and you are with her for every step. Some of the heart wrenching scenes/speeches (one early one in particular) may have fallen flat in the hands of another actress. I found myself completely engrossed for the entirety of this film, not wanting to take my eyes off the screen for any of it. As I said previously, this is heavy on the emotion and it rarely lets up. Even with little knowledge of the intricacies of the back story and history of Panem, you are wholeheartedly behind the rebellion and you so fervently despise the man behind the suffering. Sutherland hasn't had much screen time in any of these films but credit to him to still make you loathe the Snow character and his relaxed attitude to the genocide of entire cities of people. It's a pity that this film had to be split in 2. It's annoying to have to wait so long for a conclusion. I am deducting a star purely because it feels unfinished. However, considering this is based on fiction for young adults...it still hits hard and will stay with me for a while.

THE HUNGER GAMESMOCKINGJAY PART 1why? people really don't like this film i'll tell you why. people didn't like the mocking jay films, because of the lack of action katniss being less powerful then in the first 2 and a lot of propaganda BUT mocking jay is a war film and would have stuff like torture, PTSD and propaganda that is what the main theme of the mocking jay films are about. anyway, i'll tell you my opinion. its gritty tone and music suits the film perfectly 10/10its action is a little bit lacking but like i said the film is about propaganda and the uprising of the Districts. 7/10its direction PERFECT! Francis Lawrence is an amazing director and all ways will be. 10/10the acting in the film is also really strong just like catching fire and hunger games i really mean it, its the best acting i've ever seen and the films have some of the best actors i have scene in other films! so anyway i give this film a 9/10 its very realistic and gritty and violent.now go see mocking jay part 1 now! its brilliant!

Katnis Everdine is really, really starting to rub me up the wrong way. Sure, she is really good with a bow (and also seems to have the ability to magically bring arrows back into her quiver after firing all of them at a bunch a ravenous apes), but she also seems to be very prim, proper, and nothing like the rebel that everybody makes her out to be. Okay, I guess the whole idea is that she is supposed to be the reluctant hero, but as far as I'm concerned she really doesn't come across to me as being all that heroic. In fact after finishing this movie I had literally become sick of the sight of her, which is disappointing because she does play Mystique in the X-men really, really well.Anyway, this film follows on from the previous one, after the rather annoying cliff hanger where it turned out that half of the people in Capital, including one of John Snow's closest confidants, turned out to be rebels, and that there has been a rebel movement building for quite a while. However, the mysterious district Thirteen, which was only mentioned once in the previous films, and was said to have been destroyed, turns out to be the rebel base. Mind you, as soon as you are introduced to this place, and their leader Coin, you, or at least I, raised the question as to what was so different here than there was elsewhere. Particularly since the so called rebels had this habit of kidnapping people that Katnis trusted.So, what we have are the rebels wanting to use Katnis, the reluctant face of the rebellion, to film a number of propaganda videos – tell me again how these rebels differ from the rest of Panem? The problem is that Katnis turns out not to be all that good an actor, which was strange because she was a really good actor when it came to pretending to be in love with Peter, but then again we sort of wonder whether she actually is in love with him or not. So, they decide to go out to the war zone where she can be herself, and then use this as an opportunity to film the videos.Oh, I should also mention that Peter, and some others, were captured by the Capital and are being used in propaganda videos of their own, so the rebels send in an elite strike force – of which Katnis isn't allowed to participate because, well, she actually isn't a warrior, she is just the human face of the rebellion. I am sort of wondering whether I should say anymore, but I won't because, well, I can't be bothered.