The Hunger Games franchise has never been the most uplifting series: it features slaughtered babies, starving moms, and Jennifer Lawrence falling for flattened bread (‘Peeta.’ And in real life, Chris Martin). But Mockingjay was definitely the bleakest chapter of them all, in a way that felt less sensationalistic than authentically, genuinely, sad. The newest trailer for Part 1, filmed mostly in seasonal depressive grey, only emphasizes the dysphoria, while throwing us a few ‘Jennifer Lawrence yelling at people’ shots, just to keep us motivated.
Mockingjay takes place after the Hunger Games and during the rebellion. People kill each other, bombs are thrown, everyone dies. And while Mockingjay makes a serious attempt to explore trauma and war, it’s the least readable of the series. Plot twists become plot knots. Strong characters become single-sided copy jobs. Think of it as the young adult Fury. There’s tremendous despair and very little uplift, which is fine, if just not – enjoyable.
To be honest, I can’t see a huge difference between the latest Mockingjay trailer and the standard loud noises/confusing things commercialized action pic. Still, it features Jennifer Lawrence, and . .. Jennifer Lawrence? Mockingjay Part 1 finally comes out on November 21st . I’m eagerly awaiting to cry on the bus ride home.