-★★★★☆
Ever since the dawn of The Hunger Games book series and its rise to fame, I was always a fan but not of the third book which is Mockingjay. Why? To be honest there are a lot of wrong things happened in the book. The first two were beyond awesome, and we have Mockingjay, about the final part of the rebellion of the districts versus the Capitol, specifically between Katniss and President Snow, but it seems to feel like rushed and unfinished.
Of course in Mockingjay, there are no more games happened because everything stopped when Katniss showed true rebel in Catching Fire.
I have doubts about Mockingjay becoming a hit in movie theaters compared to the first two films which have solid storyline and heart pounding events. And I have more doubt when they decided to split Mockingjay into two films.
Nevertheless, I’m always a fan of the book series so I put my faith in the directors and screenwriters to amp it up into a cinematic experience, and guess what, Mockingjay Part 1 was good!
OVERVIEW
Mockingjay is the continuation of where we left off in Catching Fire a year ago. It’s where Katniss woke up and found out that there’s District 13 being an underground society, Peeta and the rest of the victors captured by the Capitol and of course, the start of the uprising.
District 13, which is spearheaded by President Coin which is played by (who I call) The Possessed Julianne Moore (in a good way) and Plutarch which is played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the rest of the team who helped Katniss survive in the game in order for them to create a propaganda in enticing the people of Panem to rise against the tyranny of those in the Capitol.
They’ll be convincing Katniss to do so and also in order to regain power all over Panem.
MOCKINGJAY PART 1
To be honest, I was expecting additional scenes in the movie due to the lack of intensity in the film. I mean, it needed to happen because the source material only focuses on Katniss’ stupidity in choosing to be the Mockingjay or not.
The film focuses on the propaganda created by District 13 using Katniss for the uprising.
I love the fact that this whole movie is about backstage propaganda and how showbiz it all is even you are in the midst of a war. There will still be the ‘lights, camera, action’, make up, costume and script behind it and also it shows how empowering this is for an entire community or whole country perhaps. Let’s face it; we all love a good advertisement.
Also, the additional scenes that are not in the book are really intense and captivating that it will give you goose-bumps. Although for some times I was kind of bored a bit, but just a few, no worries.
There’s one scene where Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) sings and how it grew into a song of rebellion. It was just perfectly well done!
OVERALL
Overall, the movie is about the emotional turmoil of someone in the war, and how a community of rebels acts to it, as well as how it will lead to a huge war against the Capitol.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay is a rebellious propaganda fashioned with behind-the-scenes showbiz and deliberately intense and emotional rollercoaster ride towards an inevitable war.
One Setting Travels 