The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

Both the The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire were, in terms of adaptation for young adults, fantastic and perfectly escalating, but for me they simply couldn't match the quality of the source material. Although in the case of the latter, it was a close call. It is precisely because of this that I was more afraid of them splitting the finale, as its political intrigues and gradual war tactics were by far the weakest (and yet quite numerous) passages in the book. But fate and the producers presented the established creative team with two newcomers, the screenwriting duo of Danny Strong and Peter Craig. It's hard to say how these two came together and what led them to The Hunger Games, but it was a decision that definitively shifts the entire saga into self-sufficient territory. With enough time and emotions, all of which hit the right marks thanks to Jennifer Lawrence's unwavering and, on the contrary, growing acting talents. From the first The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, a constantly suspenseful spectacle has emerged, which despite its apparent aimlessness never loses momentum for a moment, and it offers its share of unforgettable moments (Katniss's song, the rose, the final twist). Now Lawrence and company have nothing to prove, because they handled the most critical moment with shocking finesse and have in front of them the even more treacherous task of adapting the pure gold that is the second half. And yes, I am just as anxious as I am excited. (23/11/2014)

I'd probably be repeating myself if I said that splitting last parts into two or more episodes is more detrimental to the film itself, and the only upside is the producers' and distributors' pockets are more lined. The same is true of the first episode of the third part of Hunger Games installment. All things considered, nothing much happens. While there are a lot of action scenes, it all feels kind of incomplete. Personally, I liked the third book the least, so I wasn't expecting anything special. In short, I would love to punch the face of whoever came up with the idea of splitting “Mockingjay” into two movies (the last Harry Potter at least had a lot to draw from, but with HG, the books aren't that extensive). (25/12/2014)

The first half of the last episode of The Hunger Games offers nothing but constant talking, preparation for the revolution, gathering courage and calm before the storm. Meanwhile, we will have to wait a year for a proper civil war and action before the second half premieres. Actually, it's more of a prequel. From a technical perspective, the film is not badly shot, the actors are very good and the dialogues are quite fine, but it is desperately boring and lacks action. Most of the time, you just wait for something to finally start happening, but you won't get see it, because the creators are saving it for the next film. In addition, the whole thing looks much cheaper than the previous two films. If nothing else, in the previous Hunger Games you could at least enjoy the grandeur of the gaming arena, the digital tricks, or at least the extravagant color stylization of the capital and its inhabitants. This is not the case with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, as most of the story takes place in an underground bunker or in ruins, so the film is not only much more intimate, but also not very visually attractive. For the average viewer, or one who hasn’t seen the previous episodes, this is a waste of time. For fans of the series, the film only serves as a moving illustration of events that they already know from the book. And, of course, it doesn't make sense to tell them that the new Hunger Games is not worth it... (19/11/2014)

Worse than the second film. Verbose, with very little action, and unnecessarily political. And there was all this fuss about it, even the new song by Lorde turned out to be unnecessary. It is incomprehensible how Jennifer Lawrence, compared to the excellently coherent and well-paced second installment, stumbled so badly and made a typically arrogant and tearful Hollywood shlock that lacks all the ingredients that made the second film a better one. A leap back to mediocrity with one single inventive moment – the chimney falling on the building. (07/12/2014)

I'm quite pleasantly surprised. The story of the protagonist in the service of propaganda - the revolution is perhaps unnecessarily intimate (the third installment of a very successful series and there is almost no sign from the decor that it had a blockbuster budget), but it cleverly and amusingly rotates the concept of the Games themselves, because although even this time the cameras are on full time and broadcast for crowds of people, it's a completely different broadcast with a completely different goal. But propaganda also works on the other side, and for a while it is (within the genre) a very decent psychological massage, although, of course, there is no doubt who the good guys and the evil guys are. I have to highlight the scenes with the singing and destruction of the dam, and also the liberation of the hostages, because Francis Lawrence filmed them excellently, they have atmosphere, they are thrilling... And I hope the entire next film will be like that. (16/01/2021)