Reviews Film / The Hunger Games Mockingjay

Part 1 is full of padding

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 is full of padding in attempt to justify making it a 2-part movie. We get:

• Scenes that are repeats of earlier scenes (Katniss goes to District 12 alone and there is a dramatic reveal of a bunch of bones of dead citizens. Then later Katniss goes to District 12 with a group and there is...a dramatic reveal of a bunch of bones of dead citizens)
• Scenes that are downright tedious (the storming of the capitol building, which showed commandos searching...and searching...and searching...and searching through the building all while intercut with narration that would say one sentence and then wait 30 seconds for the commandos to do more searching before the speaker said the next sentence)
• Scenes that just seem pointless (Gale and Katniss go hunting and find that a deer isn't afraid of being hunted).
• And scenes that just exist to waste our time (did anybody really think that Katniss and her sister wouldn't make it into the bunker before the blast doors closed?).

All in all, you could probably cut about half the movie and not miss any content or subtleties. Honestly, I wish they had. Granted, there are some really good scenes in this movie (she has some great moments working with the rebellion), but they are hampered by the fact that there is so much timewasting in between.

My recommendation: wait until part 2 comes out and just watch this before then. It will still be a long movie, but it won't be as much of a time waster.