The Hunger Games: Mocking jay Part 1: Transitory & introverted

The Hunger Games: Mocking jay Part 1

Staring:  Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Donald Sutherland

Rated: 7/10

Katniss Everdeen is back but sadly she is not really in her elements this time round. The hunger is all but gone, doused by her extremely lovelorn state after Peter is imprisoned by the Capitol. There is a rebellion that needs her fury and passion to catch fire but she has only tears and helplessness to offer.

That’s not what the Hunger Games series were ever meant to be. Its USP has been the high octane teenage adventure pegged on a fight that’s always won by Katniss, the ultimate icon of perseverance and courage, the Mocking Jay, symbol of victory against all odds.

Mocking Jay Part 1 pegs its story far away from this hue of undiluted passion. But still, and despite its slow motion activity, it grows on you. It gets serious with Catnis’ love lost syndrome and it draws a lot of weightage from her fluctuating emotions. By the time she comes out of the nightmares of her previous encounter with the Hunger Games, losing Peter to the evil Lord Snow, District 12 is all but gone, bombed into non-existence by the Capitol’s mean machines. Amid all this ruin and hopelessness, it is frustrating to see Katniss merely standing, staring and crying. There are hardly any fight sequences that she is involved in and her weapon — the stylish bow and arrows — is used just once in the entire film.

And yet, the propaganda team of the District 13’s democrats somehow extracts the raw emotion needed from Katniss to propel the prowess of the Mocking Jay into fuelling dying hopes and reviving the fighting spirit of millions of have-nots dying under the atrocities of Snow.

With Mocking Jay in such a cathartic bind all through the film, it is to the director’s credit that this edition still weaves you into the tapestry of the Hunger Games. Yes, it is slow. Yes, it is a bit introverted and yes it ponders too much on what many dismiss as a second hand emotion. But still, it holds promise despite holding the fire. It’s a transitory episode, one that tantalises you with the prospect of what’s about to come. For more on what the final outcome of Peter’s imprisonment and return will be on the Districts’ most iconic warrior — wait forMocking Jay Part II — which hopefully will have much more action and pace, now that Peter has to be set right.

Sadly though, the next time round, there will be no electric presence of the now late Phillip Seymour Hoffman even though pro-democracy president (played wonderfully by Julianne Moore) might hold forth on his behalf.

Source: Sunday Pioneer, 30 November, 2014