Recently, the most popular cinematic trend has been dystopias. Films such as Divergent, The Maze Runner, and The Giver have found significant popularity with moviegoers, particularly young adults. Most recently, the third movie in The Hunger Games series, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, premiered on November 21 and made close to $122 million on its opening weekend, solidifying the power of dystopian films in modern culture.
The Hunger Games franchise followed in the footsteps of the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises and split the final book of the series into two movies. Mockingjay Part 1 begins after the 75th Hunger Games in District 13 with a distraught Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) who is struggling to recover from her and Peeta’s (Josh Hutcherson) separation. The plot of the movie is mostly about President Coyne (Julianne Moore), the leader of District 13, organizing a rebellion against the capitol with Katniss as her “Mockingjay,” or leader. Although she supports the rebellion, Katniss’s main objective is to rescue Peeta, whom she discovers is alive and being tortured in the Capitol. This movie reveals a new, vulnerable side to Katniss, which is big difference from the emotionless but strong girl in the previous two movies. In this film, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) plays with Katniss’s emotions and sends her into emotional turmoil that sets up the final film in the series.
Many of the characters in Mockingjay Part 1 are in fragile emotional states, so due to the more dramatic nature of the story, the acting in this movie is the best out of the three films. In particular, Jennifer Lawrence and Sam Claflin (Finnick) brilliantly portray the emotional instability of their characters due to separation from people they love. In addition, Liam Hemsworth (Gale) demonstrates his adept acting skills when he portrays a range of emotions including guilt, anger, and heartbreak. Josh Hutcherson has the challenge of portraying his character’s distress in only a few scenes, but his acting is exceptional and he successfully conveys the emotional and physical torture that Peeta endures in the Capitol.
In contrast to his abundant screen time in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, Peeta is only in a few scenes from Mockingjay Part 1. His only appearances are in the propaganda videos that the Capitol broadcasts and a few brief scenes at the end of the film. On the contrary, Gale has a huge role of helping Katniss retain her sanity in Mockingjay Part 1 in contrast to the little screen time he has in the first two movies.
Mockingjay: Part 1 is a very suspenseful movie and the death count is much higher than in the first two films; additionally, because the film does not show the games, it includes much more of the other districts than the first two films due to its broader scope.
Although The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire are classic dystopias, Mockingjay deviates from the typical plot of 24 victors fighting to the death. The third film of the Hunger Games series is action packed and follows a rebellion, so it is more of a war movie than a dystopia. Unlike normal dystopias, this movie focuses less on societal problems and more on the impact that a war has on both individuals and society as a whole.
Mockingjay Part 1 is the best film of the series because the film includes more action outside of the arena and better acting than the first two films. Rather than telling a story about a specific corrupt society, Mockingjay draws larger conclusions about the world today. The directors suggest that the story of Katniss is not entirely fiction; rather, unless people question their government and keep it in check, the world becoming like Panem is not out of the question.
