The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is upon us and fans are extremely excited. However, we can't say the same for critics as the film appears to be a mixed bag. While some enjoyed the film, others felt Mockingjay should have been the third and final film.
The movie is based on the final novel in Suzanne Collins' spectacular trilogy of the same name. However, Lionsgate thought it would be cool to split the film into two parts for the sake of making more money. The final addition to the series will come around the same time in 2015.
Overall, though, most critics have certified The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 as fresh, but one can completely understand why the others thought it was quite boring due to the fact that the film is forcing to keep the good stuff away until Part 2. Quite sad, but this is Hollywood after all, and money will always be the important factor in every passing day.
Let's take a look at what some critics are saying:
Claudia Puig of USA Today: "This third 'Hunger' installment is a nimbly constructed action-adventure blockbuster with a social conscience. It deepens the characters and further invests the audience in the saga of Katniss and her competing love interests, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth)."
Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post: "Its retro-futuristic aesthetic lacks the flamboyance of past installments, but possesses its own grim integrity, and even contains one authentically shocking reversal that bears more than a whiff of a 'Manchurian Candidate'-like menace. It's a joyless, surpassingly dour enterprise, but one that fulfills its mission with Katniss' own eagle-eyed efficiency and unsentimental somberness. 'Mockingjay' sets up the end Game with a grim sense of purpose."
Justin Chang of Variety: "Like the novel, the screenplay (penned by franchise newcomers Peter Craig and Danny Strong) ably conjoins elements of political thriller, combat movie and mass-media satire, weaving a dense network of unsteady alliances, secret conspiracies, ratings-minded power plays and the always-knotty entanglements of love and war. It helps that some of Collins' storytelling devices, particularly her critical inquiry into the temptations of overnight fame and the uses and abuses of televised propaganda, feel naturally suited to the screen."
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times: "There's heart in the vague yet stirring liberation story that comes to the fore in this chapter and that's echoed in real-life struggles around the world. And it's there of course in Katniss, the backwoods savior who, as played with guileless appeal by Jennifer Lawrence, is mounting an attack on the forces of oppression."
As it stands right now, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is the least favorite of all the three films. The movie currently has a rating of 70 percent on RottenTomatoes, and all indication is proving that it could go lower just in time for the launch on Nov. 21.
Fans can only hope the final piece to the puzzle, when it comes out in 2015, is far better than what Lionsgate has delivered in 2014.
