With Mockingjay, the newest entry in the Hunger Games series being part one of a two part split of the final book entry in the series, there wasn't much to go off for this first half. With the actual book only being 404 pages, it means that this movie only had about 200 pages of content to go off of, with the last half of the book retaining the lion's share of the edge of your seat tense action sequences that really jerk the tears. Thus, this movie really, was just building up to the explosive ending the fourth film will entail. Thus, with only short bits (yet intense) of action sequences found sparsely through out the movie, there was less hype surrounding the third entry in the beloved young adult series.
However, that's not to say this movie isn't worth seeing. As per usual with this series, the film counterpart of the book remains shockingly accurate in many ways, and is wonderfully written. The film's dialogue is also stunning, and there are still moments that (even though I read the books) had me on the edge of my seat. Even with a lack of the action we've become accustomed to in this series, this is anything, anything but a bad film. Even just build up in this series is something that manages to never disappoint.
Overall, while it may not be exactly what everyone was expecting, this movie has (some) action, great dialogue, intense moments, and even some comedy embedded into its winning formula, and is already a huge box office success. However, expect to see twice the amount of hype, excitement, and film gold come next year when we see the already anticipated release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 2 to theaters around the world.
