“The Hunger Games, Mockingjay – Part 1,” expertly develops characters and brings a sense of reality to it’s fictional world. 

While most viewers may see this much anticipated third installment as a “set-up” movie for the final (especially those who haven’t read the book), this movie is probably the best example of what Suzanne Collins was trying to portray through the series of books.

The film finally shows the toll the games have taken on Katniss. She is clearly suffering from a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder that she battles throughout this film.

While Lawrence may be 24, Katniss is supposed to be a 16-year-old rebellion leader, and in this installment, you finally see that.

She is vulnerable in a different way than when she is with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) is not as prevalent in the movie as he was during these parts in the book, which may be met with disappointment. Katniss is finally alone.

As she unravels at the smallest of things, the realistic version of Katniss comes to light.

She is often hiding from her problems in crawl spaces, her room and pretty much anywhere away from other people.

She is constantly woken up from night terrors and is expected to act like she is perfectly fine.

Someone is not going to be able to come back from a fight to the death and just act normally, and to do it twice would take almost everything out of any person, let alone a 16-year-old. At 16, people are not even finished growing; the human brain isn’t even fully developed until about 25. 

But what Katniss does demonstrate in this movie is the strength she builds to combat her physical and mental evils. She is resilient: constantly bouncing back in the best way she can.

She essentially forgets about herself again to become the “mockingjay” to save her beloved Peeta.

While many people will argue that this is irrational behavior, you have to again think about what the young woman has gone through and how traumatizing her entire life has been.

The fact that Katniss was still so put together after the first games, was more frightening than what she is going through in this film. 

Lawrence delivers like no one else could; she cries and yet is so cold and guarded. Playing a character that is so mixed up emotionally and portraying those emotions so perfectly is a challenging feat that Lawrence clears with ease.

Aside from the acting, there were subtle scenes throughout the film that resembled some very relevant issues in history.

In one scene, a plane controlled by the capitol (the enemy) collides with a tower, which sends it crashing to the ground. Within two minutes, a second plane crashes into a second tower, eerily resembling the twin towers in 2001.

Director Francis Lawrence subtly makes his political statements throughout the film using both Katniss and her surroundings. He draws parallels between this fictional world and the actual world that we live in.

All in all, the film is a good bridge for the final; it ends in the most predicable place that anyone who has read the book would guess, but it doesn’t feel like a waste of time.

This movie will make audiences even more anxious for the final film which, if it’s anything like this one, has the possibility of being better than book.