The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Dir: Francis Lawrence
2014
**
I really didn't care for the first two Hunger Games films and although I thought that part three (the first half of the Mockingjay adaptation) was a lot more interesting in story, it is by far the most dull chapter so far. The first two films were a copy of literature classics like Lord of the Flies and 1984 and cult films such as The Running Man and Battle Royale but they had a certain colourful flare about them. The message is quite positive with socialist idealism and revolutionary thinking, all rather lost in what is a capitalistic money making franchise but then that is taking it all a little too seriously - although many have. Mockingjay changes the formula of the story somewhat and picks propaganda as its main theme. I can picture a young Suzanne Collins now, half listening and half daydreaming in her history class (which followed her English literature class) and only half hearing how Russian propaganda helped overthrow a leadership and how the Nazis used it to take over Europe. I don't blame her really, I'm actually jealous I didn't think of it before but only for the money. I'd be embarrassed to be celebrated for what is a cheap and shallow imitation of some of the best examples of creative writing and important historical events - both of which I believe kids should be reading about instead of watching/reading the Hunger Games. I digress, as interesting as the theme here may be, the film itself is far too simplistic and never really captures what I believe it sets out to project. The direction is also a bit too simplistic and the production as a whole is positively dull.