Are the odds in Mockingjay's favour?
The reviews are in and it appears the odds are mainly in favour for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1.
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has it at a 90 per cent approval rating, although a closer look at the comments suggests more of a mixed opinion.
Most say it's stylish, moving and rave about star Jennifer Lawrence, but several reviews also lament about the disappointing lack of action and purely commercial choice to stretch Suzanne Collins' final book over two movies.
Here's a look at what they said:
FOR
Kevin Harley, Total Film
"With measure and muscle, Lawrences Jennifer and Francis nail the job of selling the long, twisting road towards revolution."
Kate Muir, The Times
"Audiences might be forgiven for feeling plethoric, even bulimic, as Collins' final book is stretched over two sequels, but that would be underestimating the electromagnetism of Lawrence on screen. She is an actress who can make two hours of faffing around in the darkness completely compelling."
Charlotte O'Sullivan, The Evening Standard
"The 11-year-old who accompanied me to this third (and penultimate) instalment of the dystopian sci-fi series, based on the novels by Suzanne Collins, was hyperventilating with excitement as we left the cinema."
Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
"Even if Mockingjay, Part 1 leaves us wanting more, it's not just two hours of build-up. Think of it as an amuse-bouche for a final course that manages to satisfy on its own.
Cath Clarke, TimeOut
"By chopping the trilogy's final book into two, this second-to-last film should be more drag than drama the cash-machine episode that everyone knows is just a teaser for next years epic send-off. And while it definitely takes its foot off the action, Mockingjay Part 1 goes deeper and darker. Any darker they'd have to give out Prozac with the popcorn or offer counselling to traumatised 13-year-olds."
AGAINST
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
"The first half of the final Hunger Games installment is disappointingly bland and unnecessarily protracted... an overgrown and bloated trailer for a film yet to come."
ON THE FENCE
Helen O'Hara, Empire Magazine
"The drama and tone are powerful and effective and Lawrence makes an exceptionally charismatic heroine, but an almost total lack of action means this is less catching fire than treading water."
Robbie Collin, The Telegraph
"All queue, no roller-coaster... Panem remains one of the most fascinating, vividly realised fantasy landscapes in the recent cinema, so it's a pity most of Mockingjay - Part 1 takes place around 300 feet underneath it."
Brian Viner, The Daily Mail
"The trend for dividing in two the last film of a series (see also The Twilight Saga) has less to do with story-tellers indulging our appetite for delayed gratification and more to do with executives enriching themselves... I wait with almost-bated breath for part two, a year from now. But I wish I didn't have to."
Justin Chang, Variety
"The series' two-part finale gets under way in solid, absorbing if not exactly inspired fashion."
