November 19, 2014 marked the third installment to the Hunger Games cinematic series with the much-anticipated release of Mockingjay: Part One.  Grossing over 225 million dollars in North America within its first week of release, the movie has received praise from fans and moderate to high acclaim from critics. With original author of the series, Suzanna Collins, on the film’s writing staff, Mockingjay followed the book’s intricate plot closely, only omitting a few details.

Following the conclusion of Catching Fire, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) awakes in underground district thirteen, a military region previously thought to have been obliterated off the map by the Capitol.  Reunited with friends Gale (Liam Hemswoth) and Finnick (Sam Claflin), Katniss reluctantly agrees to be the face of the rising rebellion of the districts to overthrow the tyranny of President Cornelius Snow (Donald Sutherland). The film chronicles Katniss’s role as the “Mockingjay”, uprisings throughout the country of Panem, and the rescue mission to liberate fellow tributes Johanna (Jena Malone), Annie (Stef Dawson), and fan-favorite Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson).

With the first half of the third book to pull from for the movie, director Frances Lawrence had little action in his arsenal to live up to the magnitude of the first two installments.  However, Lawrence brilliantly utilizes this lull to establish new characters and dig deep into the novel’s manipulation of propaganda to facilitate rebellion. Along with these focuses, two more cinematic decisions saved the film from inevitable yawns from fans:

1. Accurate Casting of New Characters: Much of this first installment of Mockingjay serves to introduce the new characters of Boggs (Mahershala Ali) and Cressida (Natalie Dormer). Poised, experienced, and versatile, these actors increase the caliber of an already all-star cast.
2. Movie Soundtrack: Under the guidance of music director, James Newton Howard, the film features Jennifer Lawrence’s haunting rendition of “Hanging Tree”, a song pulled straight from the book.  Though she claims to despise singing, Lawrence’s single currently sits at number two on the iTunes singles chart.

As many books-turned-movies do, Mockingjay deviates slightly from the original novel.  Some appropriate and some questionable, the most note-worthy alterations include:

1. President Coin (Julianne Moore) seems to be a warmer, more personable character.  While a nice touch in this film, this deviation could prove problematic when Katniss *SPOILER* assassinates her in the final movie.
2. The movie adds an uprising in district seven that is unseen in the books.  This sequence brings more action to the film and offers a different perspective that is independent from the franchise’s major characters.
3. The fate of Effie Trinket’s (Elizabeth Banks) is altered slightly. Most likely due to her popularity on screen and tendency to add comic relief, Effie is immediately sent to district thirteen in the movie and avoids her Capitol captivity as depicted in the novel.