By Luis Rodriguez
Staff Writer
The Hunger Games looks to recapture its crown as the best survival film with its new installment, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1”. The first part of the sequel brought in an estimated $82.7 million over the Thanksgiving weekend, according to the LA Times.
Unlike its action-packed rival, “Maze Runner,” “Mockingjay” begins with a slow start to build up to its plot. The film begins with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) waking from a nightmare in District 13, the home of the rebels. After Katniss shot her arrow into the force field in “Catching Fire,” a revolution amongst all districts occurred to overthrow the capital. District 13 leader President Alma Coin, (Julianne Moore) rescues Katniss from the games to make her the face of the uprising.
With a youthful cast and the plot centering on love, “Mockingjay” captures the attention of a young audience. An emotional Jennifer Lawrence does an amazing job playing the role as Katniss, sparking emotions from the audience.
“It was heartwarming to see Katniss get upset in the beginning when she found out that the rebels did not rescue Peeta,” Ashley Jordan, a sophomore education major, said.
Lawrence’s support cast, Liam Hemsworth playing Gale and Sam Claflin playing Finnick, do an amazing job backing up her stellar performance. Julianne Moore and Phillip Seymour-Hoffmann, adding experience to the cast, also plays a great role as rebel leaders. However, the cast was not the only thing keeping the viewers entertained.
Holding a vise-grip on the audience’s attention, the movie mixes it up with a bunch of plot twists. Katniss struggles to be the face of the revolution, and her job becomes harder when she realizes that the capital is using Peeta to try and suppress the uprising.
The movie’s ending sends chills down its audiences’ spines and drowns them with questions. Viewers are left wondering what will happen between Katniss and Peeta, as well as the rebels and the capital.
“Mockingjay” does not shy away from the book, and it is interesting to see how the trilogy will end. However, it was darker and more emotional than the other two of the trilogy. Also, there was not as much action as seen in the previous two installments.
“I thought they did a really good job keeping to the book. From what I remember they didn’t leave anything out,” Rachel Noone, a junior accounting major, said.
Although the cast was amazing and the movie was good, it was not breathtaking and lacked a good punch. However, its viewers should be hopeful that the second part of the sequel will be packed with non-stop action. “Mockingjay” will not blow you out of your seat, but it is a good movie to watch.
