“Mockingjay”—-or rather, the first part of it—-uses sorrow and pain like tissues. We see Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), our somber but noble protagonist, staring across a landscape of ash and human corpses. We visit hospitals filled with sick innocents and watch rebels executed in public. Whenever a character accidentally smiles, they’re quick to remember how sad everything is and resume a more appropriate grimace. Among all this tension, little is done to expound upon the universe created in “The Hunger Games” and “Catching Fire,” and even less happens in the way of story.
Lawrence convincingly plays the part of the reluctant heroine, yet never seems to develop beyond the role. Katniss is a symbol for hope, inspiring a rebellion that we only see glimpses of. She’s not entirely a passive protagonist, but also lacks the survivalist moxy she had in the previous installments. For every aircraft she shoots out of the sky, she spends too long in front of a camera playing publicist and figurehead for the rebel side.
If “The Hunger Games” was a brutal commentary on reality television and our obsession with information, “Mockingjay – Part 1” is about propaganda. District 13, the central hub of the uprising, is just as enamored with creating political messages as the big bad Capitol. This is a different game than the bloody warfare of the first movie; it’s the game of public influence.
The film doesn’t lack in powerful moments. The all-too-seldom action sequences are frantic and exhilarating, almost justifying the long stretches of near stagnation.
It doesn’t help that the slowest and least dense installment in Suzanne Collins’ original trilogy was chosen to adapt into a two-parter. The studio’s thirst
to get the most possible mileage out of the blockbuster series is unfortunately stronger than their wish to make the best possible film. The ending, which is far more interesting than ninety minutes preceding it, makes “Mockingjay” feel like less of a standalone movie and more like a two hour commercial for part two.
Book-to-movie adaptations are often criticized for not being close enough to their source material, but this one takes far too little risks. The first part of “Mockingjay” sacrifices the fresh and satirical elements that turned “The Hunger Games” into a sensation, instead opting for a far less unique dystopian drama. As the highest grossing film of 2014, it has a massive core audience that’s not going anywhere, but anyone outside of the fandom starting here may wonder what the fuss was about.