Cast: Jennifer Lawrence is Jennifer Lawrence, Jennifer Lawrence and, of course, Jennifer Lawrence. Seriously though, without her in the lead role, there's not enough else here. That's not a judgment of the rest of the cast though. Liam Hemsworth is doing everything he can to overcome absolutely no character development. Josh Hutcherson does more with his few minutes than most of the rest of the cast does with substantially more time. Woody Harrelson gets a little different shading with Haymitch this time around. Elizabeth Banks does a great job adding depth to the cartoon that is Effie. Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman do a good job playing the adults and heads of District 13.
Plot: The story continues directly after the events of catching Fire. Katniss is in District 13. Peeta is stuck in the Capitol. The majority of the movie is spent using Katniss to make propaganda films to inspire the other districts to rebel. There are a lot of great commentary on the nature of political propoganda and if the ends justify the means. It's meaty thematic stuff for a movie this big and broad. There is simply not enough plot to justify this being a movie. Nowhere near enough. I'm fine with splitting the last book in a series if there's enough material. Unless they are saving 80% of the book for the last movie for some reason, there's not enough there.
Elephant in the Room: Was it hard to see Philip Seymour Hoffman? Seeing him pop up sure put a dour mood on a lot of scenes. He's nothing special in it, but it's no fun beginning every scene he's in thinking "bummer".
To Sum Things Up:
I liked this movie. I just wish there was more to like in it. This is pretty much an incomplete until Part 2. If it turns out that this was laying the groundwork for a balls to the walls conclusion, then I can accept that. Otherwise, I'd rather've seen this whole movie in montage form.
Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend
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