The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014) - Bore Inc. 3.1.: Mocking Gay - 3/10 (17/12/14)

I appreciated the first two movies of the dystopian coming-of-age franchise that is a little bit too closely inspired by "Battle Royale" but this first part of the third and last instalment is a massive waste of time and a cheap attempt at grabbing some cash from the numerous fan-boys and especially fan-girls. In my opinion, both occasional viewers and faithful fans should ignore this release, read the novel instead, and come back to the cinema for the second part of the grand finale. This movie only prepares for the last part of the series, a little bit like "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" but it's even worse.

Everything that I enjoyed about the entertaining first two releases is completely absent in this movie. The story has no tension at all and consists almost only of hollow dialogs. One could almost say that there is no real story. The rebels are trying to turn a few propaganda movies, the population is demonstrating against the Capitol and that's it. 

Instead of survival action, we get to see depressive and lengthy chamber play scenes in grey bunkers. The colourful and exciting locations are gone and replaced by dark concrete structures that make even the most functional Soviet cities look beautiful. The special effects in this movie are not even close to the breathtaking images from the first two parts. Even the soundtrack of the movie is a lot more generic than before. One of the worst parts of the movie was when main actress Jennifer Lawrence suddenly started to sing. It sent shivers down my spine but in a very negative way and it reminded me of some lyrics from an old Puddle of Mudd song: "I never wanna hear you sing, you sound just like a little kid." Jennifer Lawrence' vocal performance must be the worst I have ever witnessed in cinema. Nothing improved in this movie and everything that made the Hunger Games franchise so popular is gone.

Even the acting is a lot less convincing than in the first movies as it mostly feels numb and unreal. Julianne Moore as President Alma Coin is pale and not credible at all in her role as nobody would follow such an uncharismatic leader in real life. Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee looks like an annoying and old guy who thinks he is funny and cool but happens to be only embarrassing and stupid as he acts like he was mentally retarded. Even the characters I appreciated in the first two movies seem like pale copies of their former selves. I was eager to see Woody Harrelsen in his unique role as Haymitch Abernathy again but he only has a very small role and feels like a completely different character all of a sudden. Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket is a lot less colourful, eccentric and sarcastic than before. I'm aware of the fact that the general mood of the movie is supposed to be darker and more mature but the acting hasn't become more credible but simply shallower. In an unfitting contrast to this, Jennifer Lawrence is simply overacting her role as Katniss Everdeen. Every five minutes, you see her crying in a corner of her bunker, exaggeratedly hobbling through some ruins and yelling at everybody and everything when she's not pleased with something. In the first fifteen or twenty minutes of the movie, this acting seems like a welcome change to the tame acting of the others but a few minutes later one gets the impression that the main character has not only become a lot less mature than before but that she is simply out of her mind and dealing with important mental problems. It's not realistic at all to count on a bipolar princess who acts less mature than a twelve-year old and who only cares about her lover even though this is one of the least credible cinematic love stories I have ever seen to lead a revolution. At some point, her cringe-worthy emotional outbursts become unintentionally funny and would rather fit into a slapstick comedy movie.

It was incredibly hard to sit through the entire movie. I kept believing as I was hoping for an explosive ending and the only interesting scene of the entire film takes indeed place in the last fifteen minutes but it isn't worth the wait either. Giving three points out of ten in here is still extremely generous. Instead of making me impatiently wait for the final chapter, I'm now seriously asking myself if I should not give up on the franchise. I really liked the first two movies but this one here is plain awful. As I said before, read the novel or a short synopsis but avoid this hollow flick at all costs. It's not worth spending money on it, it wouldn't even be worth watching it if it was for free. This movie is easily the biggest cinematic disappointment of the year.