Cinemazlowski Does it really need two parts? 'Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One'

Nov 21, 2014

It’s fitting that the opening and closing scenes of “Hunger Games: Mockingjay” feature miserable people being held on lockdown in a mental ward, because that’s how anyone suckered into spending $12 to $15 on a ticket to the film is going to feel the entire time. A grim, depressing and thoroughly unexciting slog through two hours of time you will never get back, the third entry in the heretofore sterling series has lost all sense of what made the prior films so exciting.

A large part of the problem is that this edition of the series is actually just part one of the film adaptation of the “Mockingjay” novel by Suzanne Collins. That means that, in keeping with a tradition set by the final two films in the “Twilight” and “Harry Potter” series, the final novel in the series is split into two parts on the big screen. While in the “Potter” series, the idea made sense since the book being adapted was over 700 pages long, in “Twilight” and now “Mockingjay” the movies are just normal-length books stretched thin to make double the money.

The “Hunger Games” series centers around a feisty older teen named Katniss Everdeen who appears to be living in the colonial past, but in fact is about 75 years in the future and living in the aftermath of a second Civil War. In the prior two films and books in the series, she volunteered to take part in a series of nationally televised games in which teenagers are chosen by the national government to fight each other to the death until only one is left standing.

Katniss won over the hearts of the movie’s populace as well as filmgoers worldwide with a gutsy yet endlessly inventive and ethically high-minded standard of play that enable d her to survive the games twice. But in the stunning final moment of the last film, Katniss shot one of her arrows through the force field the government had constructed to keep the Hunger Games participants confined to the treacherous playing fields and was snatched away the forces of a rebellion.

In “Mockingjay,” she opens the film huddled and hiding in a hospital corridor, reciting her name and where she came from. It’s clear that she’s going crazy from all she’s been through and so she’s quickly put into action making anti-government propaganda videos that will be snuck into broadcast television programs nationwide.

Meanwhile, Katniss’ fellow rebel/game-player – and possible love – Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) has been left behind in the government’s hands since the rebels could only help one person at a time escape from the Games.  Now captured by the government, he is trapped making propaganda videos for the authorities, telling people to stop their rebellion and begging Katniss to give up too.

Thus, the film’s central showdown is set up, with Katniss and Peeta as the pawns of the opposing sides, making this edition a battle of propaganda videos rather than actual life and death. As such, Katniss is reduced to spending a lot of time standing in front of green-screens or watching a bank of secret video monitors rather than actually being in the real world doing battle.

Why anyone thought that this was a good idea – effectively neutralizing the most dynamic character and actress working in American film today- is beyond me and will be beyond anyone who is tricked into seeing this utterly boring mess.  If the filmmakers had just made one movie out of the book, we could actually get to the action of the final revolution and have some excitement and catharsis.

Instead, we are stuck with endless scenes of Katniss moping, crying and shrieking – and in one truly, staggeringly awful scene, we even see her sing a boring song. That tune instantly and inexplicably becomes an anthem for the rebellion, making it appear for a few brief horrifying moments that we’re watching “Les Miserables 2” rather than “Hunger Games 3.”

I should add that I’ve been conflicted about “Hunger Games” movies and the others that they have spawned, such as “Divergent” and “The Maze Runner.” All of these movies, and many more “young adult” (i.e., teen) novels on bookstore shelves, take place in “dystopian” societies, after apocalyptic battles or events have ruined everyday life as we know it.

These movies are usually well made, with the first two “Hunger Games” films outstanding in my opinion. The “Hunger Games” movies have an extra level of intelligence to them, and a sense of allegory and foresight about where American society could fall if we don’t maintain our highest ideals – so in that way, the books and movies are strongly akin to George Orwell’s “1984.”

What made me queasy with the concept is the idea of teens being asked to kill other teens on national television as entertainment. But there thankfully haven’t been copycat incidents, nor are we likely to go that far in society. And Katniss always has shown as much mercy, kindness and class as possible while fighting to survive, setting as good an example as possible in tough circumstances – including in her thoroughly chaste relationships with the two boys she’s torn between.

That said, millions of people will be lured into boredom this weekend in the hopes of seeing something worthwhile. But after this week and possibly next, this movie will be a bigger bomb than the ones dropped by the government on Katniss and the rebels. Here’s hoping the finale next year provides the resounding entertainment that we’re missing this time.