THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1"
(2014) (Jennifer Lawrence, Julianne Moore) (PG-13)

QUICK TAKE:: Action/Drama: In a post-apocalyptic world, the former teenage winner of a televised battle to the death competition must contend with the ramifications of being chosen as the figurehead leader of a growing rebellion against her nation's president and his totalitarian government.

PLOT:

In the undetermined, post-apocalyptic future, the government has long controlled the populace of Panem by dividing them into twelve districts. Each year, there's a televised event known as the Hunger games where one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 are selected to compete in a battle to the death. It's designed as entertainment for the masses, but really to show the people that resistance against the government would be futile.

In order to prevent the unlikely winners of the 74th Hunger Games -- teenager Katniss Everdeen (JENNIFER LAWRENCE) who didn't kill her last competitor or "tribute," Peeta Mellark (JOSH HUTCHERSON) -- from becoming figureheads for such a resistance movement against his totalitarian government, President Coriolanus Snow (DONALD SUTHERLAND) ordered a special Hunger Games comprised of previous victors. But like before, Katniss turned the tables on Snow's plans and managed to ruin his goal.

When she woke up from that, she discovered that his former game maker, Plutarch Heavensbee (PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN), was actually a rebel conspirator headed with Katniss' mentor and former Games winner Haymitch Abernathy (WOODY HARRELSON), fellow competitor and tech genius Beetee (JEFFREY WRIGHT) and another competitor, Finnick Odair (SAM CLAFLIN), to District 13, a rebel stronghold run by President Alma Coin (JULIANNE MOORE). She also learns from her former boyfriend, Gale Hawthorne (LIAM HEMSWORTH), that Peeta and two others were captured by Snow's forces, and that TV host Caesar Flickerman (STANLEY TUCCI) is using Peeta as a pawn in government propaganda clips.

With the aid of stylist Effie Trinket (ELIZABETH BANKS) and under the encouragement of President Coin, Plutarch and others, Katniss agrees to make her own clips -- filmed by a TV crew led by Cressida (NATALIE DORMER) -- to counter Snow's message and to encourage the downtrodden in the various districts to rise up against their oppressors. She must then contend with being the chosen figurehead leader of the resistance, all while worrying about Peeta and his strange behavior.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of the earlier films or novels in this series, that's a definite yes.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images and thematic material.

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