Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, The MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +3 Content: +2

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Adventure/Sci-Fi. Directed By Francis Lawrence.

FILM SYNOPSIS: When Katniss destroys the games, she goes to District 13 after District 12 is destroyed. She meets President Coin who convinces her to be the symbol of rebellion, while trying to save Peeta from the Capitol.

PREVIEW REVIEW: The franchise has morphed into a kind of political thriller set in Sci-Fi times (rebels vs. the totalitarian overlord). The violence is just as intense as parts one and two, the villain a bit more demonic (man Sutherland can play evil like no one since Robert Mitchum), and steely Katniss is even more solemn (man, someone tell that chick a joke. Can you imagine Katniss, Kristen Stewart and Nancy Pelosi stuck in an elevator? That must be a lot of laughs. Katniss would climb out, Kristen would search her soul for why Pattinson left her, and Ms. Pelosi would tax the elevator. But I digress.)

Hunger-heads and newbies will each get their money’s worth, for while it is long at 123 minutes and evidently lit by moonlight, it speeds by thanks to Francis Lawrence’s lively direction and the cast’s spirited performances.

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Lionsgate