MOVIE REVIEW - THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PT. 1 Release Date: 20/11/14 Rating: M Director(s): Francis Lawrence Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Sam Claflin, Donald Sutherland & Natalie Dormer Run Time: 123 min’s Score (out of 10): 7 Make no mistake people - Hollywood studios are in the business of one thing; & one thing only - making $$. So if the final book of a series can be split into 2 movies, then guaranteed that’s what gonna happen. Creativity etc are very much secondary concerns. End of story. Case closed. I mean if it was good enough for the likes of Harry Potter & Twilight (& dont get me started on The Hobbit trilogy), then it was always on the cards for the juggernaut that is, The Hunger Games. And whilst counting their millions for Mockingjay Part 1, the studio will no doubt try & sell us on just how lucky we are to get an extra movie out of the beloved series. But in reality, this is essentially just a very slick, beautiful-looking 2-hour trailer for the finale. Hmmm, if only studios weren’t just about the cash - I mean just because it’s physically possible to stuff a hot dog into a pizza crust, it doesn’t necessarily mean it should be done!! We basically pick up where Catching Fire left off, with our hero Katniss (Lawrence) having just been rescued from the latest Games by members of The Resistance. Naturally it’s safe to assume that she’d be overwhelmed with relief, having escaped a fairly certain death?? Ah no, instead she proceeds to tear strips off them for leaving her Games partner/maybe-ultimate-love-interest Peeta (Hutcherson) behind. So from here, The Hunger Games with no actual Hunger Games is all about the rebels taking on the evil Capitol, led by the equally evil-to-the-core President Snow (Sutherland - fantastic as the always-smiling dictator). But for Katniss, she’s got to get over her issues of Peeta being left to die before she can be of any help as the uprising’s poster child, the Mockingjay. As I’ve said with the 1st 2 flicks, I purposely hadn’t read the books … so the surprises in the story were just that for me. And it turned out what I thought was just going to be another sub-standard YA sci-fi/futuristic action-love-story was actually damn good entertainment. But then Lionsgate got greedy & went with the 2-part final chapter. And it was at this point I got a little worried about whether the last book had enough meat on its bones for 2 flicks?? Look, I’m not saying Mockingjay Part 1 isn’t a good flick; but it’s nowhere close to the same ball park as the 1st 2 movies. Sure there are some great set-pieces, drama & pathos … but as I said earlier, this is padding, & really nothing much else. Having said that, given the quality of the overall story, I have no doubt we’ll be overwhelmed with a massive rush of great stuff in the final film next year; & this greedy mis-step will pretty much be forgotten. But until then, we’re left with a 2-hour teaser trailer. Bring on November 2015!!
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 00:12:17 +0000
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