Gatton Students Burn with Excitement as They Watch The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 Premiere

By Julia Gensheimer

On Friday, November 21, more than 20 Gatton students anxiously waited in line at the Great Escape 12 Theatre to see the first part of the final film of The Hunger Games trilogy. With popcorn, Sour Patch Kids, and Icees in hand, we took our seats, mentally prepping ourselves for the film. MockingJay, Part 1 picks up where Catching Fire left off, with our heroes underground in District 13. The games are over, but the violence has just begun. This film is high-action as the rebellion catches fire across the districts with Katniss as the rebel leader, or the Mockingjay. Emotions are high throughout the film – especially for viewers who read the book in seventh grade and completely forgot the plot line (me). I cried seven times. The film was filled with stellar performances by Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, and fan-favorite, Woody Harrelson.

Out of the three Hungers Games films, this clearly took on a darker tone. “It was really moving,” said senior Anna Mayo. “It was interesting to see the film franchise move in the direction that wasn’t centered on The Hunger Games. It was easy to see parallels between modern day revolutions and the film.” Many Gatton students reported feelings of high emotion and increased heart rate. We all left the theatre recapping our favorite scenes and lines. The overall reaction from Gatton students was that the film was actually better than the first part of the book. It was a vivid and intense Hollywood rendition—much better than many of us imagined the rebellion scenes when we read it at a younger age. With the final scene, we were left with an emotional cliff hanger that had us all wondering what would happen next. Then the screen went black and we remembered that this was only Part 1. Sadly, we were left hanging—anxious and emotional, and counting down the days to Mockingjay, Part 2.