Over the Thanksgiving holiday, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” took the world by storm. On opening weekend, the movie reeled in $121.9 million, setting the record for the 2014 best debut. After the holiday, “Mockingjay Part 1” had a domestic gross of $225.7 million and a foreign gross of $254.4 million.
The third of four movies in the series differs from the first two in that it does not take place in the arena. After being rescued by District 13 at the end of “Catching Fire,” a post-traumatic stress disorder-inflicted Katniss Everdeen becomes the Mockingjay, the symbol of the revolution against the Capitol to restore freedomto the districts.
The film is dark and serious. It veers away from the more action-packed “Hunger Games” and “Catching Fire” and is more of a war movie, with battles raging around every corner as the movie progresses. The sense of danger is serious, but Katniss provides a ray of hope for the oppressed people of the districts. Propaganda is used as much as fighting the enemy. A camera crew follows Katniss as she visits districts that have been leveled by the Capitol, and Katniss shares messages encouraging others to join in the fight against the Capitol.
As the revolution advances, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) sings “The Hanging Tree,” which was a bold, but necessary, move. Lawrence was reluctant to sing the song for the movie, but it added a tremendous amount of intensity to a pivotal scene, during which Katniss and Gale Hawthorne were supposed to speak on camera about their home of District 12 being destroyed.
Since Katniss doesn’t do well scripted, the crew took a break for lunch, and the scene found Katniss sitting in silence. Upon sighting a mockingjay, Pollux, a man who was previously tortured by the Capitol, urges Katniss to sing. With the camera crew silently filming the entire time, Katniss sings “The Hanging Tree,” finally getting the footage they needed all along. A new revolution anthem was born, and the movie takes on a new level of intensity for the latter half.
“Mockingjay Part 1” is a must-see for those who are “Hunger Games” fans in the slightest sense and is playing at the Hollywood 16 and United Artists theaters in Amarillo.
