I may be the only reviewer in America who has never watched
the first two films in this series or ever read the The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins – while still deciding
to go see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay –
Part 1. Despite entreaties that the
subject matter was too complex to watch the film without initiation, I bought a
movie ticket and added a few more dollars to the $370 million in box office receipts
this film has already received.
With assistance from a nephew and niece, I was able to
figure out what was going on. Katniss
Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is still traumatized by her recent participation
in the “Hunger Games” staging – a futuristic gladiator competition – and now only
wants to spend time with her sister, Primrose Everdeen (Willow Shields) and
their mother (Paula Malcomson) while they are forced to live underground. Katniss is cajoled by Alma Coin (Julianne
Moore), head of the rebel forces and Plutarch Heavensbee (Phillip Seymour
Hoffman), Coin’s able assistant, to appear in some propaganda footage
directed against the evil Capitol that is led by President Snow (Donald
Sutherland). The one complication is
that Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), who Katniss has previously fallen in love with,
is still being held by the Capitol and apparently has been brainwashed as he
does propaganda interviews for the other side.
The rebels eventually do some damage to the Capitol and are able to
bring Peeta and other rebel members back.
However, rather than greet Katniss enthusiastically, Peeta tries to
choke her to death on their first meeting.
We are left to guess what is to occur next (unless you’ve already read
the books) when Katniss at the end of the film sees Peeta in a rubber room
strapped to a table and obviously suffering from delusions.
Like the Star Wars
movies, for which the Hunger Games series
owes its very existence, this was never meant to be just a single film. Yet despite Star Wars great success, Hunger
Games are well on their way of becoming the most successful series of films
in cinematic history – not to mention the substantial profits Ms. Collins has
made off the sales of her books. This is
Hollywood at its money-making best.
At the center of its success is obviously its young star,
Jennifer Lawrence. She is its main and
possibly only significant attribute of the whole film series. At 24-years of age, she can right now demand
almost anything she wants. At least in
the only movie I’ve ever seen her in, she introduces the closest authentic component
in its 123 minutes of viewing. She is believably
tough and vulnerable at the same time.
Other than when they doll her up in required costume to shoot her arrows
at airplanes and all the other nonsense, she looks and behaves surprisingly
like a courageous young adult girl. They’ve
thankfully downplayed the romance element (which, though the romance angle introduced so far is not believable, I
suppose it will inevitably become a greater focus in Part 2) and instead show a girl
understandably trying to cope with nightmares from what has previously
occurred. While supporting parts played
by Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks bring a bit of humor to the movie, these
roles are extremely limited. The talent
of Phillip Seymour Hoffman is largely wasted in this film by playing such a
generic character. Julianne Moore does
nothing for me one way or the other. And
Donald Sutherland plays the same kind of tyrant we've seen many times in film,
and he does it without a great deal of flare.
The fanfare surrounding this movie is more interesting than
the film itself. Beyond smashing box
office records, many political commentators on both the right and left, desperate to seek validation for their beliefs, have
been trying to claim the film as their own.
Protesters in Thailand and Ferguson, Missouri have made reference to
this film or used “Mockingjay” three finger salutes (though in Ferguson they've now decided to go with the more understandable gesture of holding their hands up in the air). Still other commentators have criticized the
film story for not taking a more explicit political stand. I don’t think I have ever seen so many calls to
“revolution” used in relation to any film as individuals have directed towards
the entire Hunger Games series – references
made without exception by naïve people who have no idea what revolution entails,
what they really would want out of the chaos that would ensue, or what they could stomach.
For whatever it’s worth from someone who has never read her
novels, I don’t think that Collins’ dystopia will make us forget the one that Orwell
put into place. Collins’ novels, as the
novels of Margaret Mitchell or Raymond Chandler or James M. Cain, will be
remembered because of the films the books inspired. Just as occurred with Chandler and Cain's novels, no one
will be interested in reading her works anymore.
What’s notable about The
Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is that it doesn’t even come close to
being a complete work in and of itself.
We’re watching a young girl’s struggle only as a lead up to the next
film - so more money can be spent by moviegoers on this series. There’s extremely little humor and almost no
one else to care about. I liked portions
of the film because of the acting of Jennifer Lawrence. There are small portions of the film such as
the references to the ambiguities of war and peace and revolt that come close
to being intelligently stated. The best
that can be said is that the upcoming movie will probably be more
entertaining.
November 30, 2014
November 30, 2014
© Robert S. Miller 2014
