The three Hunger Games movies are not the typical teenage waste of money. The third installment, Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 was released on Nov. 20. This movie proves that sometimes films can be more entertaining than the book.

Mockingjay Part 1 takes place almost immediately after the end of the previous film, Catching Fire. Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, becomes a symbol of hope after surviving the Hunger Games and the Quarter Quell. These two events involved killing innocent people in order to be crowned the winner.

So Katniss is considered to be the mockingjay, or the face of the rebellion against the Capitol. Katniss defies the overly powerful and cruel government of the Capitol.

Josh Hutcherson plays the character of Peeta Mellark. In the movie, Peeta and other Hunger Game victors are kidnapped by the Capitol. The main protagonist is President Snow (Donald Sutherland) who torments Katniss and other rebels throughout the film with mass destruction and slaughter of innocence. Snow attempts to cripple to districts in order to show that the Capitol will do anything to stop a revolution.

The book and this film differ in several ways, but overall this movie followed the novel’s plot fairly well. No major events were left out of the film. “Mockingjay Part 1” lacked some action, but the great performances made it a fantastic movie in general. It is a true must-see for all Hunger Game fans.