Splitting major tentpole adaptations into two films has become a norm in modern day Hollywood.

The financial benefits are obvious, but from a storytelling perspective, the results are mixed.

Fans are obviously thrilled at getting to live with their favorite characters a bit longer, but the results have often led to unbalanced films that delay the climax everyone is anxiously awaiting. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was the first franchise to make the attempt and the result was far from a resounding success. The first film was lambasted for its slow pace and seeming lack of direction. The last "Twilight" book got the same treatment and was destroyed by critics even more so.

Now it is the "Hunger Games" franchise's turn to attempt the feat with "Mockingjay," and it is safe to say that the experiment is just as lacking in this rendition.

The film picks up where the last film left. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is in District 13 and is being asked to serve as a political mouthpiece for the rebellion. She is upset that her beloved Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) was abandoned at the Hunger Games that she destroyed. She is even more upset when she finds out that he is in fact alive, but is being used for the same purpose by the Capital.

Eventually, Katniss comes around when she realizes that she can get immunity for Peeta if she agrees to make statements in favor of the war. This only serves to further escalate the war.

The film's trailers promised a lot of action, but the reality is that the film lacks any real rhythm from a visceral or psychological standpoint. Unlike the past installments, which documented Katniss' progress from a conflicted woman to a resolute heroine, this one has her playing the most irritating of notes -- the wounded and crying woman. All Katniss does in the entire film is complain, cry and look on in pain. The heroine that everyone has grown to love over the first two films is a shell of herself. Obviously, some of this is understandable given her recent trauma and loss of her boyfriend. But the viewer is often left hoping that Katniss will snap out of it and get into action.

She does strap on the Mockingjay outfit for a few scenes and she does blow up a plane, but director Francis Lawrence is shockingly restrained in this respect. There is one major action sequence in the film and none of the major characters have anything to do with it. The climax of the film, a rescue mission, grows in suspense but the viewer only witnesses the after-effects of it, leaving a rather anti-climactic feeling. In fact, this pattern is actually embedded in the overall film. Katniss' propaganda is a major part of the film and the viewer is filled with anticipation at seeing other viewers around the districts witness them live. In past films, there was a tremendous sense of fulfillment and immersion in being one with the onlookers in the other districts as Katniss was on public display in the arena. But this sense is completely done with in this film, leaving the responding war efforts seem a bit empty.

The biggest issue, of course, is that this film plods along with tremendous amounts of filler and repetition and absolutely no war. There is one scene in which Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and Katniss walk around the outside of District 13 for no apparent reason. The viewer intuits that their conflicted relationship might get some sort of development and just as there is momentum, Gale is told that they have to go back. It completely voids the scene, making it clear that the intention was to add running time to a movie that probably could have been 30 to 40 minutes shorter. There is another scene in which Katniss and Gale film propaganda on District 12. After the crucial scene, there is another pointless one between the two characters in which there are attempts at creating tension in their relationship. But, here again, Gale knows that there is nothing left for him and Katniss does not protest. At this point, the love triangle is vapid at most and any aborted attempts in this film at reviving it come off as a desperate attempt to increase the movie's overall length.

The art direction is rather lacking when compared to the others. The viewer spends a lot of time looking at rocks in the destroyed districts or the unimaginative underground District 13 which looks too similar to "Divergent's" overall art scheme. In fact, the jumpsuits that all of the characters are wearing in this district look far too similar to "Divergent," only highlighting the redundancy of many of these young adult dystopian novels. Despite some lengthy winding shots during Katniss' initial introduction to District 13, which seem intended to create a sense of discovery and wonder, the film has no sense of wonder. One might argue that this is the third film in a series and that sense of wonder should be replaced with one of familiarity. But even that is absent. Instead of feeling alive with old friends, the film brings in characters from past films as mouth pieces for exposition. Phillip Seymour Hoffman's Plutarch has been reduced to echoing Julianne Moore's President Alma Coin, who is lacking in charisma or semblance of leadership and strength. Elizabeth Banks makes the strongest impression as Effie Trinket, but the caricature is starting to wear thin (if it hasn't already). Gale broods. Katniss cries (Lawrence hits all the notes properly, but they are rarely felt in this static character). Peeta is barely in the film. Finnick (Sam Claflin), who got a huge set-up in the second film, literally becomes nothing more than background noise.

And the script is filled with inexplicable plot points. If you are going to send Katniss into battle to film a commercial, why send her with only two other soldiers? Wouldn't you want the key to your marketing campaign to be safe and sorry? It's not as if Katniss was Superman. And by the same token, why is District 13 sending six men into the Capital for a rescue mission? What if something went wrong? Don't you have more than enough men to serve as backup to help? Why endanger such a crucial mission in that way? And why is Katniss' home in complete order while the rest of her district has been turned into a pile of rocks? How is it possible that there were explosions around the area and her coat was still hanging on the rack? How is one major character able to issue a warning when he sees a loved one's face and then later it is revealed that he has been tortured and poisoned and sees that loved one as a threat? If that loved one is a threat, then why would he issue a warning to save her?

So is there anything to recommend here? There is a rather clever sequence in which Katniss is being directed to do her first commercial. It is a nice self-referential moment that certainly jokes with the difficulty of directing and acting. The sequence in which she films her first commercials brings some subtle jabs at modern reality TV. And Katniss' visit to a hospital is quite touching to say the least. However, the most honest touch is the final credit that dedicates the movie to Philip Seymour Hoffman.

"Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" will certainly appeal to fans of the novel. But the film as a whole feels overlong and lacking in pace. The film leaves all the big emotional and climactic gestures for its second part, making this overture feel unnecessary and frustrating.

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