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鈥淭he Hunger Games: Mockingjay 鈥� Part 1,鈥� the third film in the planned 鈥淗unger Games鈥� quartet, has so far received mixed reviews from critics, with some complaining that it鈥檚 all too obvious that the final book in Suzanne Collins鈥� trilogy didn鈥檛 need to be split into two films.

鈥淢ockingjay鈥� continues the story of Katniss Everdeen (鈥淴-Men: Days of Future Past鈥� actress Jennifer Lawrence), a teenager living in a dystopian America. She and her allies continue to fight the government, including President Snow (Donald Sutherland), after Katniss escapes from the second Hunger Games in which she was forced to participate. In the Hunger Games, the participants, usually children, are forced to kill one another.

Monitor film critic Peter Rainer gave the movie a C grade and wrote that the problem is right there in the film鈥檚 title.

鈥溾�橫ockingjay,鈥� a big bore, suffers from being the transitional聽event before the big showdown,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淎s an actress, Lawrence has grown beyond this sort of thing, and the聽entire enterprise鈥� feels like a massive聽placeholder for the grand finale.鈥澛�

However, some critics were more won over, with Claudia Puig of USA Today writing that the film is 鈥渁 nimbly constructed action-adventure blockbuster with a social conscience. It deepens the characters and further invests the audience in the saga鈥� It also is the most absorbing and best in the series.鈥�

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone agreed, giving the film three stars out of four.

鈥淛ennifer Lawrence... is a firebrand for the ages,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淩eturning director Francis Lawrence (no relation), working from a script by series newbies Peter Craig and Danny Strong, delivers the dazzle without sacrificing the smarts. The suspense is killer. Ditto the thrill of the hunt. The film uses the extra time to, of all things, develop characters and give this dystopian fable a human scale.鈥澛�

However, Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, 鈥淟awrence owns the role of Katniss from the moment she appears onscreen鈥� Even with so many colorful characters returning 鈥� and so many of them dealing with huge changes in their respective worlds 鈥� things become repetitive鈥� What works: Lawrence鈥檚 non-glamorous, grounded performance as Katniss鈥� Great supporting work from Hoffman, Banks, Harrelson and Jeffrey Wright. Sutherland鈥檚 love-to-hate-him work as President Snow鈥� Ultimately, 鈥淭he Hunger Games: Part 1 鈥� Mockingjay鈥� serves as solid if unspectacular first lap around the track of a two-lap race.鈥�

And Variety critic Justin Chang wrote that the movie is 鈥渟omewhat unsatisfying by design.鈥�

鈥淗elmer [Francis] Lawrence maintains a steadily absorbing control of the story鈥檚 pace, tone and ever-increasing dramatic stakes,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淭he downside of his fidelity to Collins鈥� novel (the author even gets an 鈥榓daptation by鈥� credit this time around) is that the film never shakes off a safe-and-steady, by-the-book feel, or an unfortunate tendency to spell out the obvious. For all its obvious smarts and mildly provocative ideas, 鈥楳ockingjay鈥� doesn鈥檛 seem to trust its audience quite as much as it clearly trusts its heroine.鈥�