MOCKINGJAY - Part 1

Review: (no real spoilers) 

I believe it is important to say upfront that I really enjoy The Hunger Games movies. I think they are one of the stronger book series that have been written in the last 10 years. I have read all three of the books and feel that they have done a good job of adapting them for the big screen. I cannot wait for the last movie to come out in 2015! With all of that being said , I believe some people will be a little disappointed with part 1 of the final movie. I am going to list a few pros and cons of the film.

Pros -

1. The movie is very well made. The crew is amazing, and by this point in the series, they have really hit their stride in producing quality, well-told films.
2. They successfully captured the deep trauma that an individual would face if they were forced to go through what the tributes had to face in the name of entertainment, and as a reminder of the cost of defying the capital.
3. The film makers accomplished the difficult job, once again, of staying true to the original book, but still adding some outside material to enhance the big screen adaptation. The author's strong presence was essential to it's success.

Cons - 

1. The film truly feels like half of a movie. I know that for the studio it made sense to milk the final book for all it is worth, but Mockingjay is only 16 pages more than the first book and 1 less than Catching Fire. The first 2 books were only 1 movie.
2. The pace of this movie is slower than the first 2 movies. The start of the third book is slower, so I somewhat expected a slower-paced movie.
3. And the worst part is we all have to wait an entire year for the next movie. It would have been better to put these 2 movies release dates closer together.

Even though there were a few things I thought could be better, I really liked the movie. Since I have read the book I can't wait to see how they handle the second half of this book. There is a lot of good material to make for some very interesting scenes for the final movie. Let me just say in conclusion... "may the odds be ever in your favor."