Today I was debating on creating a video for this review, or just writing it up here as a blog post. Well as you can see I decided due to the amount of detail I wanted to include in this review of
Mockingjay Part 1, I'm writing it up. Warning there will be spoilers in this post, so if you haven't seen
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, you may not want to read this!
Mockingjay Part 1 is the third installment of The Hunger Games series. It stars Jennifer Lawrence, who has also starred in another "Geeky" movie,
X-Men First Class, as a young Mystique.
Mockingjay Part 1 takes place after Katniss's second time through the Hunger Games, she was able to be extracted from the dome, and was taken to a secret base in District 13. Basically this movie is all about the beginning of the revolt against The Capital.
The President of District 13, played by Julianne Morre, wants to use Katniss's image for propaganda to gain more support from the other districts for the war against The Capital. You see after the first Hunger Games Katniss was in, she became an icon of hope because of he ability to go against The Capital, and live to tell about it, and after the second movie, she was actually able to escape. It wasn't planned, at least in her mind that she would escape, but it worked.
At first Katniss was against helping because when she was rescued they didn't take Peeta, her Not Boyfriend/Boyfriend, with them. Basically she's worried about him being hurt by President Snow of The Capital. Eventually she agrees to help with the revolt against The Capital and become an image of hope for the people. At first there's some trial and error, but eventually she gets it, and becomes a force not to be reckoned with.
One aspect about the movie I found to be quite interesting is the actual world they live in. It feels very much like George Orwell's book,
1984. Which is probably my favorite book to date. If you haven't read it, I suggest giving it a read, or at least checking out one of the two movies that are based on it. I could do an entire multiple page write up on
1984, so I'm going to stop here before I take an extreme tangent on that subject. Now returning to the subject at hand, Mockingjay. Each district provides a specific resource for everyone, like District 12 provides coal, another provides wood, and lumber, ect... It feels very much like a communist kind of society, each group has their own job, and the Capital takes these resources and redistributes them in a rationed form. Mind you, the Capital is the only place where people have enough to really waste resources, such as food. The Capital uses the Hunger Games for two things, as a from of population control, and used as a way to control the people in the districts.
Another part of the film I found to be interesting, (Warning Spoiler Alert!), is that there is a part where the Capital's defense system seems to be down, so the President of District 13 sends in a team to get Peeta, and the other remaining Hunger Games tributes. Well they were able to get them all out, but you end up finding out that the Capital's President Snow actually let them go, and no-one knows why. Well it turns out that the Capital's President brainwashed Peeta into thinking that Katniss was a threat to his own life, so as soon at Peeta sees Katniss he attempts to kill her. At the last second she's ends up being saved.
Overall
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is a roller coaster ride that keeps you into the move the entire time. I give it a 4 out of 5. If you haven't watching
Mockingjay Part 1, or any of the other Hunger Games movies, check them out, their worth at least a single viewing.
It's party time! Every year my wife and I have an annual Murder Mystery Party. This past weekend we had one that had a Superhero theme to it, which made me feel like it's worth a post here on TheRetroAve.com. When my wife and I were deciding what this years theme was we were watching a lot of Batman, Arrow, and I believe the Flash TV show just premiered, which seemed to have an effect on our decision making."A super fun superhero murder mystery party for 6-10 heroes, ages 12+. The story is set at an annual superhero meeting to discuss the capture of a notorious criminal mastermind known as Da Bomb. Host this party if you are up for loads of super powers, deceit, intertwining story lines and murder!"
Overall we had a lot of fun with this one, it came with 10 characters, and due to the number of guest we were having we ended up picking up the expansion pack, which came with 11 more characters. Each character is designed to make you laugh either from their names, to what their super powers are, and if you have the right people chosen for each character, it can make it even more fun and entertaining. We like to do extra little things at our murder mystery parties such as give out awards, and gifts for people who are voted to have the best costume, best actor, and give out awards to those who figure out the mystery. If you haven't ever tried out a murder mystery party, I suggested checking one out sometime, and even hosting one yourself. The best part is that you get to be someone completely different for the night.
