The Hunger Games was never about the Hunger Games.  In fact, the Hunger Games were probably the most contrived element of the entire series.  Instead, it was about what the Hunger Games represented: the ability of a rich Capitol District to use methodologies of fear and division to maintain control.  And for 75 years, it worked, until Katniss Everdeen came along and forced the system to bend to her will.  And sometimes, that’s all it takes to bring about change.

 

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire set the stage for growing unrest and rebellion against the Capitol, so it makes sense that Mockingjay would tackle the notion head-on.  What shocked a lot of readers, and will likely challenge many in the theater audience, is that the author had no intention of framing the revolution as some uber-heroic movement.  Instead, Mockingjay takes a far more nuanced look at how obsession with the enemy turns you into the very thing you hate.

 

Looking back, it’s completely unrealistic for anyone to expect Katniss to be even a reluctant leader of the resistance.  She’s always been horrified by the violence that erupts in her name, and none of her choices were made in the name of some greater cause.  Everything she has ever done has been about protecting her loved ones: her sister, her family, Gale and District 12, and of course, Peeta.

 

So it makes perfect sense that Katniss struggles throughout this film with the idea of becoming a symbol, when all she really wants is to save Peeta and the other Victors and hide from the rest of the world.  It’s something that President Coin and Plutarch exploit to the fullest.  Directing Katniss to the horrors of the civil war and the cost to her own District isn’t just a ploy to get her to perform well on camera; it’s also to convince her that helping her loved ones is the same as helping District 13.

 

That’s the challenge of Mockingjay: Part I; taking what is essentially an internal struggle within Katniss to recognize how both sides are using her as a rallying point and how she might untangle herself and those she loves from the whole mess.  In the process, she learns a lot about the people she’s come to trust, especially Gale.  But is it possible to take that inner struggle and turn it into an engaging two-hour chapter in a beloved saga?


WHAT WORKED

What may not be apparent at first blush is how Katniss’ hopes for reunion with Peeta are a reflection of the rebellion as a whole (and the audience’s expectations regarding it).  Katniss does everything in the name of saving Peeta, at great risk to her own life.  It’s what she believes is worth fighting for, and she’s willing to set aside her misgivings if it means bringing him home safe and sound.  Yet when the moment of truth comes, Katniss is horrified at what she actually receives.  Peeta has been turned into an ugly, violent mockery of the man she loves.

               

So, too, is the rebellion led by District 13 something much uglier than the ideals of freedom and societal change would suggest.  President Snow’s push to point out the low numbers of surviving humans is not just a reminder that this is a post-apocalyptic mythos; it’s actually a practical consideration.  All things being equal, a peaceful solution is better for the human race.  Of course, when Snow pushes for it, it’s a ruse; he is really trying to preserve the Capitol’s power structure.

 

Yet it still highlights a salient point: the rebellion is hardly taking measures to minimize the body count, and they are not above using death and destruction as a propaganda tool.  Peeling back those layers on the moral quagmire of revolution isn’t easy, but it is very true to the source material.

 

The core of the film is Jennifer Lawrence, and she continues to sell the character of Katniss to perfection.  Again, so much of what happens in this part of the story is internal, which means a lot of the story is told through Katniss’ expressions and body language.  The film could have easily fallen apart with a less talented actress.


WHAT DIDN'T WORK

While I could cite the internal struggle as a negative aspect of the story, that wouldn’t be true; instead, it’s how the producers chose to break the story in the first place.  By its very nature, Mockingjay: Part I is incomplete; the title alone tells us that it is setting up the grand finale in the next film.  That there is a hard turn in the middle of the novel which lends to a logical break doesn’t change the fact that the film picks up on a relatively soft cliffhanger from Catching Fire and ends on a somewhat abrupt note.  Not to mention that the choice of music for the end credits is such that the audience isn’t sure what the hell is going on.

Those looking for the level of action that was present in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire will also be disappointed.  That’s not the kind of film that this needed to be.  In fact, some of the action sequences feel a bit out of place as a result.  It’s understandable why they are there, but it feels a little bit like the scriptwriters trying to inject some action to keep the audience from losing interest.



THE BOTTOM LINE

I suspect those who read and enjoyed Mockingjay will come out of this film with a much higher opinion of it than those who are coming in fresh or expecting it to somehow change what they didn’t enjoy about the book.  And that would be unfortunate, as this film does about as good a job as anyone could expect at moving the story forward to the cusp of resolution.  That said, this is very much a “middle chapter”, and therefore complicates the situation far more than it resolves any of the issues it raises.