Also known as WHY DOES KATNISS CARE FOR PEETA?: PART 3

I never really bothered about The Hunger Games initially to be honest (The Twilight Saga) scarred me), but I've been proven wrong by the highly enjoyable first two installments, coupled with the excellent soundtrack album (especially Lorde's cover of a Tears for Fears song). While the first Hunger Games was alright but so-so at best (rock Peeta... I'll give it a 7.0), Catching Fire was jaw-droppingly good, especially the IMAX enhanced Arena segment (I give this an 8.0). And with Francis Lawrence returning to direct after helming Catching Fire, does the third installment raise the bar higher, while justifying its split into two films?

The movie begins shortly after the end of Catching Fire, where Katniss Everdeen is rescued from the Quarter Quell and is brought to District 13, long thought to have been destroyed by the Capitol. There, she was selected to be the Mockingjay, a propaganda symbol for the rebellion to go up against the Capitol (kinda like Panem's Uncle Sam). While willing, Katniss also had to save her Games partner/kind-of lover Peeta Mellark (played by Josh Hutcherson), who has been tortured and used as the Capitol's on propaganda icon by the ruthless President Snow (played by Donald Sutherland). After two movies focusing on arenas and teenage slaughters, the franchise has taken a more political route, as the oppressed Districts begin to stand up for themselves after being rallied by the Mockingjay herself, along with the Capitol's violent retaliations.

While the premise seems exciting, one can few that the best bits have been saved for the penultimate Part 2, which has become the norm for every film adaptation of any young adult books. Action has been pretty much restricted with more exciting scenes only towards the end, and most of the film's two hour runtime was spent watching meetings, FaceTime conversations and people making viral videos (Katniss pretty much only fired ONE arrow throughout the film, and that was shown in the trailer!). While Catching Fire expanded upon its predecessor, one can only feel that Mockingjay Part 1 only went the opposite way.

Compared to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, which was the granddaddy of the "splitting final books into two flicks" family, Deathly Hallows Part was action-heavy and interesting for both of its installments (Gringotts bank heist and Dobby's death was Part 1's highlight) , but while Mockingjay Part 1 has some noteworthy scenes (the visit to District 8 and pretty much the final half hour), it's bogged down by several boring scenes, and it made me sleepy throughout most of the movie, something which rarely happens.

Nevertheless, The Hunger Games franchise pulls its strength from its large yet talented cast, and Mockingjay Part 1 is no different. As she has since become Hollywood's sweetheart, Jennifer Lawrence does not disappoint in her third outing as Katniss. While she had to share the limelight as Mystique in the X-Men franchise, Lawrence is the heart and soul of the Hunger Games franchise, and she carries this installment yet again, as her character has been given further significance, jumping from unfortunate Hunger Games tribute to the face of the new rebellion. Lawrence also notches up on the emotional levels (she seems to cry a lot this time), as Katniss has to wrestle her feelings for both Gale (played by Liam Hemsworth, who's finally given more stuff to do this time around) and Peeta, which should have been resolved by the first installment, because seriously, Peeta has been a liability to everyone for her to care about him.

The film also adds a host of new characters, as if the extra ones from the last film wasn't enough. The most prominent of them is President Alma Coin played by Julianne Moore, who adds to a long list of veterans in this ensemble (with Sutherland, Woody Harrelson and the late Phillipe Seymour Hoffman). A welcomed addition to the already large cast, Moore exudes determination and gusto as the head of the new District 13. Alongside the president was the late Hoffman's Plutarch Heavensbee, who delivers a performance similar to his uncomfortably calm villain role in Mission Impossible III. It'll be interesting to see how much of his part was filmed for Part 2.

The film also introduce a ragtag bunch of rebel soldiers, who look more like Expendables 3 rejects. Worse still, we never actually see them in any action at all, as they mostly double up as Katniss' camera crew for her propaganda/viral campaigns. Hopefully these characters will be more fleshed out come Part 2. The glut of new characters have since relegated several supporting characters to the bench. Favourites like Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks' Haymitch and Effie respectively only make brief appearances, even Jena Malone's Johanna had no spoken dialogue at all!

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 represents a massive build-up to what is sure to be an exciting final installment next year, but at the same time sacrificed itself by toning down the action and characters for Part 1. Hopefully the splitting of the two movies will help to develop the newer characters while also giving more screen time for the wonderful supporting cast we have grown to love from the first two installments. Regardless, I'm now more excited for the concluding episode (more so than the final Hobbit film), and 2015 is going to be an exciting year for movies.

P.S. While the soundtrack this time isn't as good as Catching Fire, highlights include Lorde's (who curated this soundtrack album) "Yellow Flicker Beat" and CHVRCHES's "Dead Air" (Glaswegian pride!):