The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2014)

Title: Mockingjay Part 1

Series: The Hunger Games

Based on The Hunger Games Trilogy By: Suzanne Collins

Director: Francis Lawrence

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth

Rated: PG-13

Released: 2014

 Personal Rating: 5/6

Oscars: N/A

Plot: When Katniss destroys the games, she goes to District 13 after District 12 is destroyed. She meets President Coin who convinces her to be the symbol of rebellion, while trying to save Peeta from the Capitol.
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Peeta Being Used
Josh Hutcherson does an outstanding job as Peeta this time around. We find out that Peeta is being used by the Capitol to try to stop the rising rebellion. Katniss thinks that Peeta isn't saying the things because he really believes them, but because she thinks he's being forced to. Gale is of the opposite opinion. How Peeta looks in this movie and how Hutcherson portrays him really helps sell the pain the character feels.

The Hanging Tree
This is a song from the books and it is presented wonderfully in this film. Jennifer Lawrence has an excellent singing voice. The song is about a man who has been hung asking his lover to hang herself beside him. The only thing that confused me about the placement of the song was that it was used as propaganda by District 13 for the Rebellion.

President Coin
She is a character that is introduced in this movie. Since I won't be giving out spoilers for Part 2 (I've read the book so I have a general gist of what will happen in the final installment), I can't talk fully about her. But I will say to pay attention to certain lines like her comment about Peeta. I will also say that if I had to choose having Coin or Snow as a leader, I'd choose Snow every time.

Final Thoughts
This movie makes me super excited for the final movie in this series. These movies have been some of my favorite adaptations of recent years, not perfect but still good, and I hope that the movie adaptations end on a strong note. There are no Hunger Games this time around and the Games are replaced by propaganda, which is really another type of game.