The third installment in the “Hunger Games” series, “Mockingjay – Part 1,” was one of the most suspenseful movies of the year. Director Frances Lawrence, who had previously directed “Catching Fire,” “Water for Elephants” and “Gotham,” turned the series around after an inadequate representation of the first book’s adaption directed by Gary Ross.

The movie starts out with Finnick Odair and Katniss Everdeen recovering from their escape from the games. After she fully recovers, she agrees to be the Mockingjay and be the face of the rebellion in return for the safety of the captured tributes.

Throughout the movie Katniss shows the people of Panem what the Capitol actually stands for through various examples of propaganda. However, if the Capitol found anybody fraternizing with the Mockingjay, they would immediately be prosecuted for treason.

The film kept the audience constantly on their feet in anticipation of how the Capitol would react to the rebellions of the citizens of Panem.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the film had an opening weekend box office of $123 million making it the number one movie so far this year for the opening weekend. However, “Mockingjay – Part 1” had the lowest opening weekend numbers compared to the other films in the series.

“Mockingjay – Part 1” strayed away from the love aspect and focused more on the fact that a civil war was about to break out in Panem.

The entire cast did a fabulous job. Jennifer Lawrence showed that Katniss is a strong individual and had the full potential as the Mockingjay, whereas Josh Hutcherson showed that he can play more than the stereotypical “boy next door” type of roll.

Francis Lawrence did a great job in splitting the book into two separate films making the first part focus more on the beginning of the war that will eventually consume the majority of “Mockingjay – Part 2.”

“Mockingjay – Part 1” is a must see for anybody who is interested in action, romance or war films. The film portrayed an equal balance between the three genres.

This movie gets a grade of: A