The Mockingjay Returns.....

So today I watched The Hunger Games: The Mockingjay Part 1, and I enjoyed watching it immensely. However, the two young...girls that I was sitting next to were less than enthused; the first words out of their mouths as soon as the credits began to role were "oh my god, what a f....ing disappointment. My whole day is ruined now. That was not supposed to be how they did it..." There was some additional ensuing conversation, but I ignored them. Needless to say my critique will not be that harsh by any means. I have only read the first book, which was good, and I have yet to read the other two, so my critique purely looks at the film, not at how well it was adapted to the screen. So I will start off by saying that I really enjoyed the film; it was well written, well acted, well cast, well shot, and well paced all for the type of film it was. Jennifer Lawrence is as always amazing and fantastic; more than ever she is depicted as tormented and deeply conflicted as war opens between the Capital and the Districts and she is thrust headlong into it all. She had some really powerful moments captured on film that brought tears to my eyes almost. Josh Hutcherson as Peeta had a small role in this part, but I believe it will be more sizable in part 2. Liam Hemsworth as Gale didn't really impress me as a character this film; very flat and blah like, and he was acting really....well...macho like for lack of a better term. Characters that had smaller roles, but did well were: Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch, Julianna Moore as as the rebel President, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, and of course Donald Sutherland as President Snow was awesome (he does such an excellent villain, and President Snow is such an amazing villain). The film kept good pace, and thus was edited well. I honestly don't recall much of James Newton Howard's score, so I think they should have gotten someone else to add more pomp into the film score. The cinematography was pretty good, as was the lighting. The screenplay was also well written, and the dialog wasn't ever ridiculous from what I could remember. Perhaps my biggest complaint was that although the film could essentially stand alone, it did feel like it was missing something and I'm wondering if it was a good idea to split the book into 2 films rather than just having a longer film. To each their own I suppose. I would recommend the film, I think it raises some valuable questions and ideas that people should consider, and it was very entertaining.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 trailer
Jennifer Lawrence on playing Katniss Everdeen