THE BEGINNING OF THE END // A FILM REVIEW OF "THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1"
I’m convinced that every woman in America wants to be Katniss Everdeen. Or maybe they want to be Jennifer Lawrence. Or both, I don’t know whom I would prefer to be actually. They both get to hang out with absolute dreamboat leading men, wear the best clothes and be kick ass role models for the entire country. After seeing THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1, I’m going to have to take a pass on wanting to be Katniss. Between her tear-filled episodes of extreme PTSD and her teen angst, she manages to get strangled and almost blown up. No thanks.
I absolutely adore the Hunger Games franchise. I devoured the books and have eagerly anticipated every film release. This one was by far my favorite installation yet. This film steps away from the pathetic puppy dog love triangle that is so pivotal in the second film. Instead it evolves into a true war story.
We meet President Coin of District 13, played by Julianne Moore, and her chosen panel of strategists played by Woody Harrelson and the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman. With the all-star cast comes some all-star acting. My favorite performance though comes from Elizabeth Banks, who plays Effie Trinket, the fashion obsessed advisor from the capitol. She really dug into a character that could have otherwise been an archetypal nightmare. Effie Trinket doesn’t even survive the rebellion at this point in the book series, so I was nervous when she showed up. The director (Francis Lawrence) does a fantastic job of showing us the depth of this character by allowing Banks to not play every line for comedy. It is so appreciated.
What I didn’t appreciate was the brutal violence of the final scene. In the final moments of the film, Katniss is strangled by the rescued Peeta Mellark, nearly to death. And it was uncomfortably detailed. I could have lived an entire lifetime without seeing a man strangle a woman like that. The film spares no detail, even showing us the blood vessels popping in Katniss’s bulging eyes. It was too graphic. For a series that has a huge teenage following, I think it was too much. I’m not suggesting that they should of changed what happens between the two characters. Only that it should have been less detailed, or the scene itself should have been shorter in length.
CHRISENA'S GRADE: B-
Directed by: Francis Lawrence Screenplay by: Danny Strong and Peter Craig Based on the novel by: Suzanne Collins Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Stanley Tucci
FINAL THOUGHTS: It’s heavy on the acting chops, interesting dialogue and cringe worthy violence.
CHRISENA RICCI once went to a costume party dressed in an all black dress and black wig. No one there could guess who she was. So she shouted out, "I'm Christina Ricci, without the T or I and add an E!" Everyone stood there confused, she was annoyed, so she stormed off. She never returned to that apartment ever again. Which is fine, because she later realized she was at the wrong party. She now lives in New York City.