What do we expect from movies adapted from young adult novels? There has to be some spark to them that draws in a wider audience beyond those reading the pages and developing their own world. Still, in a time when Harry Potter and Twilight have increased the lexicon with an embarrassment of terms, the trend has to stand for something greater, expressing their times with creative voracity. While there have been many attempted to get this right, most serve as nothing but entertainment. Then there's director Francis Lawrence's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1: a film so full of energy and messages that it transcends its childish moniker and goes for something deeper with a story about PTSD and overthrowing the corrupt government. Not only is it a vast improvement over the previous two, it may be one of the greatest films to come out of this current phenomenon.
Following the events of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is forced to lead a militant group of people against the corrupt and powerful employees of The Capitol lead by President Snow (Donald Sutherland). With traces of humor and a more confident cinematography, the film moves at a brisk pace through landscapes of tragedy while covering a rebellion on a scale so grand that it may be the best blockbuster anti-war film this year and possibly this decade. It doesn't so much present the destruction and ask for sympathies, it throws viewers head in with bombs going off alongside montages of chaos set the a catchy song. This is a film about contemporary culture and how media is used to influence opinion. Many scenes show Katniss and her band of "radicals" staging productions to send a message. It is then echoed like a bird call, eventually becoming viral slogans for the oppressed.
While there is a cop out feeling to the story ending abruptly, the final images only accentuate the hostility and confusion that comes with war. It is only through activity that change can happen, but it is violence that they fight against. It is a conflicting dichotomy that is explored in grand detail in Mockingjay - Part 1 and has been present in all of The Hunger Games films. Where it was depicted through creative traps that pitted kids against each other, it has evolved into something more interesting. If there's any fault to the predecessors, it is that the films evolved into a silly death match only saved by intricate rules and Katniss' relationship with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), who remains absent here save for a few appearances in interviews formulated by Snow to mislead Katniss' rebellion. Still, to witness Katniss struggling with the horrors of fighting as she writhes in bed at the start of the film sets everything to come into place. It is horrific, but the change needs to be made. This is a film about controlling chaos, which is only sidetracked by chaos cutting deep into the psyche of the common man, forced to survive in the wreckage of bombings and fear tactics.
Most of all, it is a film that feels more confident than its predecessors. Francis Lawrence came onto Catching Fire and added a cleaner shine to the film. However, it was lacking personality (which was present in the book) and served more as a building block. This is what happens when his camerawork is allowed to embrace the source material. Capturing a militant vibe crossed with sci-fi and media journalism elements, this hybrid incorporates earthy colors alongside mechanical shots that embrace the tone and add weight. The characters don't need to see anything. To see them run through fields and poorly lit corridors is enough. This is a film about uncertainty and likewise feels taught with continual obstacles.
Most of all, it's entertaining and holds deeper subtext about society. Thankfully the book's author Suzanne Collins masterfully inputted war zone tactics into the actual story. "Mockingjay" on the page played like Platoon and thankfully works likewise on the screen (so far). Down the road, Mockingjay - Part 1 will hold a resonance not held by its peers. It will be a creative peek into a culture unsure of itself and has a camera to record that. It is a series founded on questioning societal structures. It may not have the whimsy of Harry Potter, but it does have the ferocity to make war zones into a dangerous, psychological understanding of how we communicate with each other.
Mockingjay - Part 1 is a film that exceeds its predecessors and even makes the final film next year all the more anticipatory. Even if it only sets up the final battle with Snow and The Capitol, it still packs a heavy punch that is fraught with tension and gives supporting characters a lot more personality than they have gotten before. It tackles tough questions that have been reserved for indie war dramas, which makes it all the more impressive. It has the audacity to say something interesting beyond lust or puberty. It has the strength to argue that the youth can be important to change. For that reason and more, Mockingjay - Part 1 is one of the greatest film adaptations of young adult fiction this decade.
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