NEW
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/r...art-1-20141119
On the bright side, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part I comes out blazing. How could it not? Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence, suited up again as the heroic Katniss Everdeen, is a firebrand for the ages.
Making Katniss a star isn't much of a sweat, not with Lawrence in the role. At 24, she already ranks with the top talents of her generation. Beetee (Jeffrey Wright) builds Katniss three arrows for her bow: regular, incendiary and explosive. Lawrence can match that and raise the ante. She makes us feel every jab as Katniss reacts to Peeta's alleged betrayal and her own fury at the Capitol's terrorist tactics. "If we burn, you burn with us!" she shouts
..
it's becoming increasingly certain none of these movies would work without Lawrence. The Oscar winner effortlessly carries the weight of 'Mockingjay,' functioning as its action hero and emotional throughline, and navigating both responsibilities with a complexity of character that massive tentpoles don't usually have.
And Lawrence rides the constantly swirling tides of fear, anger, hope and dismay with the skills she's displayed with equal effectiveness in her award winning movies. Lawrence is a gift to this franchise, and it's hard to imagine anyone else connecting with the material and audience in quite the way she has. And it's what makes this ride to the finale so satisfying.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplayli...-more-20141119
But it’s Lawrence who drives this thing, and she’s riveting. She’s the one who carries the pic’s emotional weight, expertly conveying Katniss’s maturity and growing resolve.
https://nowtoronto.com/movies/review...ingjay-part-1/
But it’s Lawrence who drives this thing, and she’s riveting. She’s the one who carries the pic’s emotional weight, expertly conveying Katniss’s maturity and growing resolve.
https://nowtoronto.com/movies/review...ingjay-part-1/
Katniss keeps the film human — here, even when elevated to an icon, she looks away embarrassed when the District 13 crowd applauds her latest ad
. Jennifer Lawrence can say more with a chagrined side-eye than most actresses could with a page-long speech
http://www.villagevoice.com/2014-11-...ingjay-review/
As ever, Lawrence is not only the best thing about “Mockingjay,” but also probably the one thing that makes an otherwise dreary, derivatively dystopian franchise worth watching. Even trudging through the post-industrial carnage and underground bunkers of the film’s blighted universe, she radiates remarkable humanity and light
Lawrence’s Katniss is the perfect foil for all four, her raw-boned beauty, strength and steady focus just as compelling, at their most unadorned, as when they’re tricked out for maximum stage presence
http://www.washingtonpost.com/goingo...ab6_story.html
And let's be honest -- a big part of the franchise's success is Lawrence's portrayal of the tough but vulnerable Katniss, and she gives another fearless performance here
http://www.montereyherald.com/arts-a...se-more-game/4
Lawrence continues to develop Katniss and bring us on her journey with a believable and authentic nature. Katniss is very broken in this installment, weakened by the events that preceded her, and Lawrence executes it just about flawlessly.
http://www.awardscircuit.com/2014/11...8%85%E2%98%85/
