“Moves and countermoves.”

These three words by President Snow sum up the entire plot of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.” The moves of the Capitol and the countermoves of the rebellious citizens of Panem unfolds beautifully in front of your eyes, and keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

As a fellow lover of the Hunger Games series, I must say I did not have high expectations for this movie. “Catching Fire” had completely blown me off my feet, and I was sure that wouldn’t happen again within the same trilogy. However, director Francis Lawrence had me fooled.

“Mockingjay – Part 1” is full of unexpected twists, even for someone who has read the books. One of these twists is the new scenes F. Lawrence added to the movie which weren’t described in the book. These additional scenes have a positive effect since they portray the sequence of events from a broader perspective than just Katniss’, which is the only viewpoint given in the book.

The film starts out very powerful, with emotional closeups and short yet dramatic dialogues. Right away you see how much the characters have changed in District 13 and how much they have suffered, setting the viewer up for an intense movie from the very beginning.

Sacrifice, death and power are a big part of the “Mockingjay- Part 1” plot, which doesn’t leave much space for humor. However, F. Lawrence manages to throw in a few comedic remarks to lighten the mood in District 13. The Capitol fashionista Effie Trinket, played by Elizabeth Banks, is a fish out of water in the gray District 13, which is humorously expressed in her every movement. Banks may play a less significant role in this film, but that does not refrain her from being absolutely spotless in her performance.

The cast remains about the same as in “Catching Fire,” with the addition of President Coin (Julianne Moore), Cressida (Natalie Dormer) and Boggs (Mahershala Ali). I think Moore could have been more strict and assertive in her role as Coin, it was almost as if she had a sweet side that I kept waiting to see. Of course, it never came, as Coin is suppose to be a stone cold character. The same goes for Dormer who played Cressida. While I find it very impressive that she shaved half the hair on her head for the role, she too was missing a certain element of fiestyness in her performance.

In regards to the main characters, Peeta, played by Josh Hutcherson, had room for improvement too. In the book he is described as deeply emotional, very angry, and outmost assertive in his Capitol interviews, which I did not feel at all. He doesn’t have a lot of screen-time since he is only seen through these interviews and two short scenes in the very end. However, it is somewhat made up for in his last two scenes with his (SPOILER ALERT) scary mental outburst, which did not fail to impress me. Jennifer Lawrence however played exactly as expected – perfectly. This is her third time playing Katniss, yet her character stays persistent with body language, expressions and tone, which I find impressive. About halfway through the movie, Lawrence sings Suzanne Collins’ “Hanging Tree” song. It starts out quietly with a hint of jazz and then breaks off into a quire of angry Panem citizens. Lawrence’s voice is sure to catch your attention and it wouldn’t surprise me if this song soon appeared as a single on iTunes.

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” has proved that the Hunger Games trilogy is more than just teen flicks, but great movies. Even though it ends as a cliffhanger, a climax is still reached and resolved, just like a regular movie opposed to one split into two-parts. While I wouldn’t exactly call it a work of art, since it is only half of the plot of Mockingjay, the directing was phenomenal. It is seldom that a “part one” movie is as intriguing as this one. F. Lawrence truly did an outstanding job.

“The Hunger Games: Mockingay-Part 1” is in theaters now, and will be released on DVD March 2015.