The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

This is the first half of the third book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. If you've seen the first two and didn't hate them, go watch it.
I've heard a lot of people ask if Mockingjay really needed to be split into two parts. The answer is yes. It's a very different book than the first two. A lot of people disliked it, and that's fine. It wasn't what people were expecting, and there were some issues with the execution of it. Splitting it into two movies allows more time to explore the things that matter in the story.
This, the first part, is deeply human. That is, of course, the heart of the subject anyway, but divorced from the structure of the Games, this movie settles down and digs at the characters. I criticized the first movie for not being brutal enough. The second one did not have that problem, but was still very much an action film. This movie has far, far less action, but keeps all the brutality of the second film plus a little extra.
There is, of course, action, and it's handled well. There is more shaky-cam, but it's used for effect, so I can forgive them. There is also a scene involving strobe lights which I found unwatchable, but thankfully listening to that scene was enough.
There are several moments of sheer brilliance in this movie, but going into them veers too far toward spoilers. Be warned that this is only one half of a book adaptation. There is a hell of a mic drop at the end. I am very, very pleased.

Performance: 4/5
Plot: 4.5/5
Production: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
Bechdel: Pass
Reverse-Bechdel: Pass
Mako Mori: Pass
What are these?

1. Boyhood

2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
5. X-Men: Days of Future Past
6. Edge of Tomorrow
7. The Fault in Our Stars
8. Lone Survivor
9. The Wind Rises
10. The Maze Runner
11. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
12. The Lego Movie
13. Lust For Love
14. The Grand Budapest Hotel
15. Pompeii
16. Hercules
17. Fury
18. Big Hero Six
19. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
20. Maleficent
21. I, Frankenstein
22. Monuments Men
23. Knights of Badassdom
24. Divergent
25. Brick Mansions
26. 300: Rise of an Empire
27. Godzilla
28. RoboCop
29. The Giver
30. Winter's Tale
31. Interstellar
32. Transcendence
33. Noah
34. The Legend of Hercules
35. Need For Speed
36. 3 Days to Kill
37. Lucy
38. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles