This November the movie based on the first half of the third “Hunger Games”  book was unleashed upon the world. That is exactly how it feels, like a two hour prologue to the action that will happen in part two. Don’t get me wrong, I very much enjoyed the movie. It has a different feel than the first two “Hunger Games” movies, because there are no actual hunger games in the movie. “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” focus on the growing rebellion against the capital, and the start of the movement towards attacking the capital.

I was very impressed with the way the film followed so closely to many scenes from the book. During the first half of the “Mockingjay” novel the main character, Katniss Everdeen, is completely shell shocked and she spends most of the time unable to do anything because of trauma she has previously faced. Because of this, I didn’t know how the movie would portray the character, but it did surprisingly well. Jennifer Lawrence did a superb job acting this out. The excellent acting from the supporting cast also helped diminish the fact that the heroin is incapacitated most of the film. Many of the fan favorite characters such as Haymitch and Peeta are noticeably absent from the film, Peeta for a valid reason at least.

I would recommend this movie to fans of the Hunger Games series. I don’t think those who are not pre-existing fans of the series would enjoy “Mockingjay Part 1” very much. It is a slow burning movie with little action payout in the end, and an abrupt ending leaving you wanting more. If you want a movie full of action and children fighting each other to the death, this is not the movie for you. On the other hand if you want a movie that has great characters and some intense moments, this would be a film you would want to see.