2008 marked the beginning of a series that would soon expand into a worldwide franchise of bow and arrows, bread, braids, and rebellion. The first part of the final movie in the Hunger Games series was released in theaters the other day, and it has exploded. People around the world are discussing this movie, and most likely crying as well. This movie isn’t just a love story. It represents an inner strength within all of us that needs to be used to fight against injustice.
The movie continues after the chaotic ending of Catching Fire when Katniss and Finnick are rescued from the arena, and we learn that Peeta is left behind as they travel to District 13. Katniss learns from Gale that they have destroyed District 12, and this carries into Mockingjay Part 1. The first time they arrive at 12, the scene is horrifying, with Katniss finding several bodies burned down to skeletons.The combination of Katniss going through not one, but two Hunger Games, having her District destroyed because of her involvement in the rebellion, then Peeta being taken away from her by the Capital is absolutely traumatizing for her. After all of this happening, Katniss has developed post traumatic stress disorder. Even when she is safe in District 13, Katniss is stressed and frightened, hiding in small spaces for days at a time to escape the hospital. This is shown in the movie, but it’s much quicker than it seems in the book.
Katniss is convinced to help the rebellion by doing videos, but she cannot act well with just a fan and a fake background. That right there was so funny to me, because Jennifer Lawrence had to act like she was bad at acting, when she is essentially doing what Katniss cannot, acting in front of a greenscreen with special effects. Jennifer did so wonderful in this movie and I honestly want to shell out Oscars to all the wonderful actors and actresses in this movie, but the great acting was only part of it.
I love how they included more of Effie, played by Elizabeth Banks, because you can see how a person from the Capital reacts to and joins a rebellion. “They’ll either want to kill you, kiss you, or be you.” -Effie to Katniss, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 1. Haymitch enters the movie with his signature sarcasm, but in District 13 there is no alcohol allowed. This really affects Haymitch because he has always had alcohol and he’s suddenly had to quit cold turkey. This isn’t portrayed as much in the movie because who wants to say that the funny character was really an alcoholic? That was one of the things I wish they hadn’t glossed over in the movie.
Another thing is Finnick. Where do I start with Finnick Odair. He needed more screen time, which apparently Gale got instead. We missed the important connection of a friendship between Katniss and Finnick that occurred in the book. Both of their loved ones are taken and held captive by the Capital. Finnick uses a rope to distract himself from this fact by constantly tying and untying knots. Katniss uses the pearl Peeta gave her in the arena during Catching Fire. At one point, Finnick makes a speech and it is shown to Panem while a team goes to rescue the Tributes held by the Capital. This speech is so important, not only because it reveals how President Snow rose to power but the fact that after Finnick won the games, his body was sold to wealthy people in the Capital. Finnick was only 14 years old when he won the games. This impactful speech was overshadowed in the movie because it switched shots from the speech to the rescue of the tributes, which was entirely unnecessary and it reduced the impact of Finnicks words.
Despite the few flaws it has compared to the book, the movie overall was fantastic. Natalie Dormer plays Cressida, who I immediately recognized from Game of Thrones. She was perfect for the role. Pollux, who was played by Elden Henson, was just as perfect and I loved when they included a part where he uses ASL to say to his comrade “She is pretty.” when he first meets Katniss. We also see when President Snow is making an announcement that all symbols of the Mockingjay are forbidden, his granddaughter, who we saw in Catching Fire as a fan of Katniss, slowly unties the braid in her hair.
A round of applause is needed for the cat that played Buttercup for the much needed comic relief of the movie as he is stuffed in a bag and saved by Prim. Speaking of Prim, they also included more of her in the movie as well, which I know is building up to something but it’s still great. President Coin, the leader of District 13, who was played by Julianne Moore, had a chance for more emotional depth in her character than in the book as we learn from Prim that her husband and daughter died in an epidemic in District 13. Then we have Peeta, who despite the lack of screen time, deserves an armful of Oscars for his performance. Especially near the end of the movie, he was amazing. The set and effects of this movie also deserve recognition. From the scene of a destroyed District 12 to the flying crafts throughout the movie, it was flawless.
The movie, the series, is not just a love triangle. It is not team Peeta or team Gale, as our media prefers to portray it. The crazy thing is, our media is trying to do the same thing that the Capital is; playing down the rebellion by covering it with a love story. The rebellion was most certainly the main focus point of this movie and it came through so well. With Katniss as a narrator in Mockingjay, we get a very limited view of what’s happening outside District 13, except when Katniss is out there herself like when she went to District 8. With the movie we get other points of view, like when there are executions of people using the Mockingjay symbol, or an attack on Peacekeepers in District 7 when lumberjacks climbed up trees then bombed the peacekeepers on the ground, and when hundreds of people in District 5 were killed when they stormed the dam that powers Panem in order to destroy it with bombs.
The scene leading up to destruction of the dam was Katniss singing “The Hanging Tree”, a song her father taught her. Jennifer was very unwilling to sing the song because she is insecure about her voice, but I have no idea what she’s talking about. Indeed, she is not a trained singer, but the power and emotion she put into the song was perfect and then the song continued into people of District 5 singing the song together as an anthem as they storm the dam. This was only one of the powerful moments of the movie. When Katniss visits District 8 in order to make video of her as the Mockingjay, President Snow learns she is there visiting the wounded and bombs the hospital where the patients were sheltered. The speech that Katniss makes after this happens is so powerful and heart wrenching, but it represents so much more.
“I want to tell the rebels that I am alive. That I’m right here in District 8 where the Capitol just bombed a hospital full of unarmed men, women, and children. There will be no survivors. I want to tell the people that if you think just for one second the Capitol will treat us fairly if there’s a ceasefire, you’re deluding yourself. You know who they are and what they do. This is what they do and we must fight back. President Snow says he’s sending us a message? Well I have one for him. You can bomb us, torture us, and burn our districts to the ground, but do you see that? Fire is catching. And if we burn, you burn with us.” -Katniss Everdeen’s speech after the bombing of a hospital in District 8.
This movie is a call for freedom from an oppressive government. Sound familiar? That’s because it is. This is happening right now in the world around us. People are getting killed for fighting for their freedom. Places have banned this movie because they are afraid it will ignite an actual revolution against the government. In Thailand, the three fingered salute has been forbidden because it suggests protests against the military coup. Citizens are already being detained for making the symbol in public. China has also banned the movie from being released.
In Mexico, there are protests and riots because in September, 43 students that were headed to a protest to commemorate the Tlatelolco massacre of 1968 in Iguala, Guerrero being forcibly disappeared by government security forces. This was motivated by the federal government’s desire to advance radical economic and educational reforms without opposition. In Hong Kong, thousands of citizens took to the streets to demand an open democratic process after China proposed reforms that would allow it to control who would be able to run in future elections. After days of mostly peaceful protests, tensions increased over the weekend as people opposing the demonstrations began assaulting protesters. This is a widespread issue, and it’s even happening here in the United States. In Ferguson, Missouri, protests about the shooting of Michael Brown are still ongoing as protesters hope for a guilty verdict of Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed Brown.
All of this boils down to the main point, if you see something wrong, you should fight against it. Fight and search for the right way. This past week at Niles West, we had stand up to bullying week. If you feel your government is bullying you or other people, stand up to it. I left the theater in tears that were well deserved from this emotional rollercoaster of a movie. If you see Mockingjay Part 1, you will know what i’m talking about.
5/5 Stars
