Mine’s bigger. Image via Mockingjay.net

As I settled into my seat for a late Sunday afternoon showing of Mockingjay Part 1, I looked at the crowd seated around me and realized how much power this franchise really has.

Young Adult is typically associated with “screeching sixteen-year-old girls.” That is essentially what the Fault In Our Stars screening I went to looked like. Instead the Mockingjay audience was mix of screaming sixteen-year-old girls, fathers bonding with their sons, couples on dates, and chatty older ladies. So, it is possible to make a blockbuster without pandering to the lowest common denominator.

Mockingjay Part 1 is the weakest of the franchise so far, but that is still to say that it was entertaining, and hey, it was kind of a relief that it was under two and a half hours long. The Hunger Games hit a franchise high with Catching Fire. It was the effect of having less exposition and more world building. Mockingjay leaves off not far from when Catching Fire ended. Chosen One Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is captured by the resistance in District 13. After being informed that her home of District 12 is destroyed, she finds reason to lead them against the evil government. If I had one major complaint about the series, its that the dystopian government sometimes feels more like a faceless entity that’s protected by dudes dressed like Daft Punk. I understand the idea of keeping things mysterious but if you have Donald Sutherland as the bad guy, you might as well take advantage of it.

Compared to the last two installments, Mockingjay has much less action. Sometimes, this is for the better, and sometimes not. For one thing, Mockingjay seems a lot more interested in teaching lessons about how political propaganda is made in that regard, they are speaking my language. On the other hand, it is a little off-putting when two hours worth of buildup leads to a rescue mission that looks like a mix of Zero Dark Thirty and Call of Duty. That is to say it is about as fun as watching your friend play a video game. It doesn’t feel like they put too much thought into splitting Mockingjay into two parts: rather than restructure the story accordingly, it feels like they literally sliced it down the middle.

The first part of Mockingjay also manages to play to all the franchise’s strengths. Mainly, its expanding world and its characters. Mockingjay focuses more on the possible love between Katniss and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) than the possible love between Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) which is too bad, because Gale is kind of boring and its fun to see the short guy get the girl. Lawrence gives us a new reason to call her America’s Sweetheart. At one point, she sings the song “The Hanging Tree” and it seems like she would make an amazing addition to a hypothetical O Brother, Where Art Thou? sequel. Mockingjay also shows what makes Katniss stand out amongst a see of bland YA characters: she’s bold enough to fight and scream until she gets her way, but she is also compassionate enough to risk her own life in order to save her sister and her stupid cat.

Lawrence is lucky enough to work with an ensemble of fine actors. It is great to see Elizabeth Banks’ Effie Trinket get a little more screen time and get to do something a little more than read names. It is always fun to see when a person with so much power loses all of it. Same goes for Harrelson, who deserves his own McConaissance at this point. And of course, there is Philip Seymour Hoffman who as always can convey so much just with a shrug of his shoulders. We are all so lucky to have had him around for as long as we did.

Each Hunger Games installment has largely focused on a certain aspect of media manipulation. The Games themselves are basically Survivor taken to its natural extreme. Mockingjay is about a propaganda war. District 13 hires a film crew to follow Katniss around and turn her into a hero with the magic of editing and music. Mockingjay often has a fun movie-within-a-movie quality to it. One of the propaganda videos that we see looks no different than an actual trailer for The Hunger Games. It is sound editing, not actual heroism, that can change the world.

Despite all of the parts of Mockingjay Part 1 that I enjoyed, I still feel like I only watched half a film. Mockingjay spends a lot of time setting things up only to tell us we have to wait one more year. There is nothing wrong with ending on a cliffhanger (the original Lord of the Rings trilogy was good at that), but it is unsatisfying when absolutely nothing gets resolved. I am excited for the next half, but I also feel like with the “To Be Continued…” sign plastered in between them, half of the momentum has been killed.

Brain Farts From The Edge 

• Woody Harrelson is definetly the Rust Cohle of this movie.
• Part of me wishes that Alfonso Cuaron could have directed this. Francis Lawrence does a great job, but I think it could have benefited with some more long takes. Plus, those burned out cities reminded me of Children of Men.
• The Hunger Games: Where your young children will learn about genocide and mass graves for the first time!
• Three words: Not enough Tucci.
• Is Team Peeta a thing? If so, I am on that. Once again, Gale is boring.
• This line made me laugh really hard for some reason: “If you’re having dinner stop having dinner.”
• Natalie Dormer is great. HOW DARE YOU SUBJECT HER TO A SKRILLEX HAIRCUT.
• Movie cats ranked: Inside Llewyn Davis > Gone Girl > Mockingjay Part 1
• Cats are kind of useless, so I guess it’s nice to say that there’s one cat who actually managed to make a difference.
• Lots of dead, decomposing bodies, explosions, and gunfire. Rating? PG-13.
• Actually, the best Hunger Games movie is Snowpiercer.
• Good job, Effie. Katniss really is the best dressed rebel in history. Suck it, Che Guevara.

Every once in a while, a film needs to come around that alleviates all of your worries and reminds you that everything is awesome. As the main song suggests, “The Lego Movie” is exactly what you are looking for.

“The Lego Movie” is the movie that I had no idea I was waiting for. Even after waiting a week to see it, the hype does not tamper its impact at all. “The Lego Movie” proves that you don’t have to be Pixar to create something that is both great for kids and the annoyed parents that they drag with them to the movies.

Here’s the thing: I fall into neither of those categories. I am not young enough to be a child or old enough to take care of one. I am in the state between childhood and adulthood, which is why “The Lego Movie” was perfect for me.

The greatest trick “The Lego Movie” pulls is making a 90 minute Lego ad that doesn’t feel like one at all. Maybe that’s because nobody needs to advertise Legos anymore; at this point, the word is basically a part of the English language. Therefore, making a Lego movie is much more than just a blind cash grab.

Yes, “The Lego Movie” has a real story. Emmet (Chris Pratt) is a construction worker and a fairly boring dude. He only likes the pop song that everyone listens to (“Everything is Awesome”) and the most popular sitcom (“Where’s My Pants,” which just reeks of “The Big Bang Theory”). He is an empty vessel, to hilarious effect. That is until he meets Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), who wins him over because she is a really hot Lego. He also finds out that he is the “chosen one” who will lead the Resistance against President Business (Will Ferrell) and reunite all of the Lego worlds. This is how the movie is able to bring Batman (Will Arnett) into the story. Will Arnett, by the way, might be the best Batman to date.

“The Lego Movie” is infectious. Try to watch it and not have a great time. It is packed to the brim with jokes, like it is trying to throw as much as it can against the wall. Basically all of it sticks. It crosses different pop culture zones with such ease while everyone involved also seems to be having a blast. This is the best opportunity you will get to watch some really respected actors basically making fun of themselves. Liam Neeson gets to play a tough cop loosely based off of his “Taken” persona, while Morgan Freeman gets to play the sage, but with much less useful advice.

Animation is probably the greatest way to boil down a complicated world view into something both simple and farcical. Hey, life itself is pretty cartoonish, and “The Lego Movie” is the cartoonish thing it deserves to imitate it. “The Lego Movie” is all about the goods that we consume everyday with such ease. What does it say about us that the song “Everything is Awesome,” the only song that DJs play on the radio, is so damn catchy?

But “The Lego Movie” is not a pop song, it is pop art. I feel weird for saying that, but it is true. “The Lego Movie” comes from the minds of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The two of them also collaborated on “21 Jump Street.” They have a rare talent for taking a really bad idea and turning it into a really good product. Originality is rare today in Hollywood, and most remakes and movies based on toys are immediately shunned by the press, even if they do well at the box office. There really is something great to be said about taking something dusty and stale and turning it into something exciting and new. Lord and Miller actually respect the source material that they work with.

“The Lego Movie” not only makes the toy-based movie good, but also movies in general. It follows the typical movie structure basically to a T. If you know movies, then you will see that it hits basically every important plot point at just the right time. Yet, it takes all of those and hits the biggest high note possible. There is a big speech, but it is actually a good speech. It has a big third act twist that could have been disastrous, but it ends up giving the film its heart. Basically, “The Lego Movie” restored my faith in formula.

Despite playing by the rules, “The Lego Movie” is also about anarchy. It is about the power of drawing outside the lines and using your imagination. What Lord and Miller are doing with their career is playing the Hollywood game, but doing it the way that they want to. “The Lego Movie” is like watching a really creative kid who is on his way to being a really smart kid playing with his toys. “The Lego Movie” is like reliving your childhood, but with much better lighting.

Brain Farts From The Edge (Some Spoilers Follow)

• Not that the series needs any help, but Lord and Miller deserve their own “Muppets” movie.
• Little kids will watch Unikitty (Alison Brie), but probably not find her funny until they are much older.
• I’m calling it now: “The Lego Movie” is this generation’s “Toy Story.” There, I said it.
• Yes, this brought tears to my eyes at one point. When father and son hug, it is just such a sweet moment. The fact that I got this emotional over two characters that are barely in the movie says a lot about how effective “The Lego Movie” is.
• I love how the little sisters’ lego blocks are those big ones they gave you because you were two young to handle the little ones. Just a nice little detail.
• Is there a better on screen pairing than Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill? Their Superman and Green Lantern deserve their own spinoff.
• Speaking of which, in terms of that whole controversy of “The Lego Movie” stealing the Superman joke from Jerry Seinfeld: I think that Jerry might have been joking around with those Tweets. Comedians do enjoy sarcasm. If he isn’t, then he should really back off. Jerry, I think you’ve got enough money. Let them have this one. They earned it.