Review: The Hunger Games, Mockingjay Part 1

I'm in the minority of film critics in that I think that the trend of splitting the last book of a Young Adult Novel series into two movies is quite fine.  It worked REALLY well for Harry Potter; it gave the story room to breathe in a way that the other films didn't.  However, I was a little hesitant in jumping on board with the splitting of the last Hunger Games installment into two movies.  The book is easily the worst of the 3, so I naturally questioned the studio's decision to split it.  I thought the first film was pretty good, although not as polished or as compelling as the second one, Catching Fire. 

THE GOOD
First off, Jennifer Lawrence continues to prove herself as a force to be reckoned with.  Her performance is so good and I thank my lucky stars that they casted her back when she was relatively unknown.  I was genuinely and pleasently surprised with Liam Hemsworth's performance as Gale.  I felt his earlier portrayals were little more than eye candy, but here he proves that he can give a fairly moving performance.  In fact, there weren't really any bad performances in the whole movie, with one exception, which will be discussed on 'THE BAD' section.

The propaganda scenes in the film are 10 times more compelling than they were in the book.  I was sincerely moved and inspired by the speeches.  This was very unexpected for me, and it brought the film to a whole different level. 

The musical score was VERY good as well. 

The set design and overall look of the film is a big win too.  I really felt immersed in District 13. 

THE BAD
The film ended in a weird place, and I honestly don't know where they are going to go from here.  It's a huge divergent from the book. 

The portrayal of Prim feels a bit forced.  It's not way distracting, but I definitely felt like her lines were there just to move the plot forward. 

CONCLUSION
I REALLY liked this film.  It was dramatically better than its source material and was even thoroughly compelling.  It threw around some great ideas like having to make ethical compromises even when you're on the side of good.  I really recommend it.  4.5/5 Disco Balls

PARENTS GUIDE
This film has some disturbing things happen, but all of them off camera.  You don't actually SEE any blood or violence, with exception of some bones.  There's no sex and no profanity.  I almost think they could have gotten away with a PG rating with this one, although I'm glad they didn't.