I've never been much of a reader. I know, I've started a lot of TT and Facebook posts with that opening. There seems to be a lot of books being published these days for young adults: The Twilight Saga; The Hunger Games; 50 Shades of Gray; Divergent; The Maze Runner; The Giver; etc. I probably wouldn't read any of them. However, I will probably watch the movies.
There seems to be a lot of post-apocalyptic, dystopian stories. I recently saw The Giver, and in a few months, I won't be able to tell you the difference between that and Divergent.
I do however enjoy The Hunger Games. Again, not interested in the books, but they made great movies.
GETTING TO THE POINT
Mockingjay Part 1 is the third installment of The Hunger Games trilogy. And following the current trend in Hollywood, they've made three books into four movies. Got milk?
The story picks up shortly after where Catching Fire left off. Katniss, Primrose and her mother and other people from District 12 are holed up in an underground bunker in District 13, a location that had been previously unknown. This District is heavily fortified, has it's own president, and is engaged in a conflict with The Capitol. All of Panem is on the brink of civil war, as a result of President Snow's fascist rule. What Tributes he cannot brainwash, he incarcerates. Panem needs a hero, a savior, to unite the disparate districts to fight for their freedom.
Katniss is The Mockingjay. She is the hero; the savior. Although she was thrown into the arena twice, her spirit is not broken. Katniss Everdeen is the kind of character that is forged in the fire. In the beginning of the film, she looked like she had cracked. The scenes looked like some kind of futuristic concentration camp in the bunker where they lived. These were desperate people. Under the leadership of President Alma Coin, they wage war against President Snow.
One thing I really like about The Hunger Games is Katniss Everdeen. I love that the protagonist, the hero, is a woman. There are so many sci-fi/fantasy stories where the hero is a man, it's good to see a little "girl-power" once in a while. I grew up in a home with traditional values, but at some point in time, my opinions changed. I believe that men and women are equal, that either have the innate ability to "save the world," so to speak.
I highly recommend this film, however, I realized that I didn't enjoy it as much as the first two. I would give it a score of 7/10.