Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

I am a HUGE fan of the Hunger Games movies thus far. Jennifer Lawrence has become a certified star through the films and she is surrounded by excellence in Donald Sutherland (Amazing as President Snow), Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, and more recently Julienne Moore & Phillip Seymour Hoffman (R.I.P., and he should be proud of his work in this film). The story is clearly great since it's sold an aircraft carrier worth of books, so that can't go wrong. I have been very impressed, so enough on that. This film picks up with Katniss in a "hospital" setting following her shooting an arrow attached to wire to the THUNDERDOME-esque forcefield during the last film. She doesn't know if her family is OK, or what happened to Peeta, which is of significant importance to her. She awakens and shakes off various injuries to find herself in District 13, which she thought was rubble. It's a militarized district that has continued rebellion against the capital. Julienne Moore is the "President", though they insist on democracy. They inform her they are in open rebellion and the other districts are being attacked by the capital via bombings and outright executions. She commits to being their "Mockingjay"/propaganda tool, especially after she is informed Cinna (Lenny Kravitz in a great role) was murdered and her Mockingjay outfit was his work. They show her District 12, her home, which has been destroyed and most inhabitants murdered. She then fully commits to rebellion and fighting against the Capital. Peeta is being used as the mouthpiece for the Capital, but also to taunt and torture Katniss. There is an interesting back & forth between the two that continually escalates. I'm so glad I didn't read the books because the suspense and not knowing what is coming up is fantastic. I don't want to give much of the story away, but I was impressed with pretty much all aspects of the film. Bottom Line: 9.1 out of 10. If you aren't on board, see the other two and go see this. I think the films are excellent. Great acting, story, and pretty much everything. There are a few boring patches, but overall it's excellent.