There are two punctuation signs in the title of this film. Jean-Luc Godard's latest has a simpler and shorter title than this Young Adult popcorn flick! That should offer hint as to the thrill ride we are in for with this movie. I would say this is a blockbuster laboring under the delusion of being a deep, dystopian film, if it were not so obvious that no effort was put in what-so-ever.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (the synopsis is shorter than this title) is the adaptation of the first half of the final book of the best-selling, young adult trilogy, The Hunger Games. As such, you'd think it would contain half of a plot. And you would be wrong. In fact, there is no way for me to spoil this movie in this review, because nothing happens. There is literally one action shot in the entire film and it's in the trailer. There is literally one development in the entire film and again it's in the trailer. Other than that, there are two hours of pretty people standing around talking. Mostly about nothing. And then it ends.
The performances are completely phoned-in. Julianne Moore, in particular, looks so bored, you'd think she is watching the movie with us. The actors looked more lively doing the promotion tour. As a matter of fact, the marketing campaign for the film is much more interesting, as Lionsgate used a targeted approach to generate social media buzz for the release... . I am getting side-tracked by a movie's PR. Again what a trill-ride this crackling blockbuster is!
Alright, back to the drag... I mean, the movie. Mockingjay - Part 1 (this title really helped with the critics' word count, didn't it?) takes up all the bad parts of its predecessors and magnifies them exponentially. It has the shaky cam of the first one, only worse-done and even more nausea-inducing. It has the same dull, generic cinematography that fails to capitalize on the vivid descriptions of the books. Mockingjay - Part 1 is cement-colored. It also suffers from jagged editing and lack of pacing. To be fair, the final book has serious pacing issues, too, so good job bringing that part to the big screen!
The bite of the political and media satire from the books has been removed in favor of a neutered, more crowd-pleasing version. For the life of me, I cannot understand why. The books sold very well so that should signal that its young audiences obviously had no problems with the actual clever parts of the novel. Still the films, this one included, are dumbed-down by comparison and have their focus shifted to the clinched love triangle that pokes its head in Mockingjay - Part 1, too, and then promptly goes nowhere.
Despite a sizable $125 million budget, Mockingjay - Part 1 is plagued by risible effects done almost entirely in post, which might help explain the lifeless performances this collection of otherwise talented actors give. Anyway, the CGI is cartoonish and flagrant, and the confused use of the Arri Alexa camera in the film draws further attention to it. Some shots look so fake, that it's almost as if it were done on purpose.
My assessment: cure for insomnia, I mean, bad.
Film details according to imdb.com:
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Screenplay by: Peter Craig & Danny Strong
Based on a book by: Suzanne Collins
Cinematography by: Jo Willems
Shot with Arri Alexa XT, Panavision Primo, C-, E-, G-Series, ATZ and AWZ2 Lenses
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (the synopsis is shorter than this title) is the adaptation of the first half of the final book of the best-selling, young adult trilogy, The Hunger Games. As such, you'd think it would contain half of a plot. And you would be wrong. In fact, there is no way for me to spoil this movie in this review, because nothing happens. There is literally one action shot in the entire film and it's in the trailer. There is literally one development in the entire film and again it's in the trailer. Other than that, there are two hours of pretty people standing around talking. Mostly about nothing. And then it ends.
The performances are completely phoned-in. Julianne Moore, in particular, looks so bored, you'd think she is watching the movie with us. The actors looked more lively doing the promotion tour. As a matter of fact, the marketing campaign for the film is much more interesting, as Lionsgate used a targeted approach to generate social media buzz for the release... . I am getting side-tracked by a movie's PR. Again what a trill-ride this crackling blockbuster is!
Alright, back to the drag... I mean, the movie. Mockingjay - Part 1 (this title really helped with the critics' word count, didn't it?) takes up all the bad parts of its predecessors and magnifies them exponentially. It has the shaky cam of the first one, only worse-done and even more nausea-inducing. It has the same dull, generic cinematography that fails to capitalize on the vivid descriptions of the books. Mockingjay - Part 1 is cement-colored. It also suffers from jagged editing and lack of pacing. To be fair, the final book has serious pacing issues, too, so good job bringing that part to the big screen!
The bite of the political and media satire from the books has been removed in favor of a neutered, more crowd-pleasing version. For the life of me, I cannot understand why. The books sold very well so that should signal that its young audiences obviously had no problems with the actual clever parts of the novel. Still the films, this one included, are dumbed-down by comparison and have their focus shifted to the clinched love triangle that pokes its head in Mockingjay - Part 1, too, and then promptly goes nowhere.
Despite a sizable $125 million budget, Mockingjay - Part 1 is plagued by risible effects done almost entirely in post, which might help explain the lifeless performances this collection of otherwise talented actors give. Anyway, the CGI is cartoonish and flagrant, and the confused use of the Arri Alexa camera in the film draws further attention to it. Some shots look so fake, that it's almost as if it were done on purpose.
My assessment: cure for insomnia, I mean, bad.
Film details according to imdb.com:
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Screenplay by: Peter Craig & Danny Strong
Based on a book by: Suzanne Collins
Cinematography by: Jo Willems
Shot with Arri Alexa XT, Panavision Primo, C-, E-, G-Series, ATZ and AWZ2 Lenses