PITCHED at young adult audiences, the film of Suzanne Collins’ futurist political fantasy pseudo-science-fiction novel basically bored me in the same way as does listening to Tony Abbott and his coterie of Ministers. That doesn’t deny that its plot, adapted by Collins and moulded into a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong, made me think about what underpins its actions and its adaptations of real-life historical events reflected in its writing.

Frances Lawrence’s direction deals competently enough with places, events and characters. The cast delivers what’s expected of them – often physically demanding but emotionally not all that deep. The locations in a land peopled by two warring political entities, one urban, the other distributed among rural communities, look as one might expect after a shattering war.

Jennifer Lawrence once again plays Katniss Everdeen, the feisty heroine whom the coalition of rural communities perceives as a saviour fit to wear the mockingjay brooch as she leads revolutionaries into battle. Katniss accepts the gig not for any deep sense of patriotism but because she wants to rescue Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) languishing in the capital where President Snow (Donald Sutherland) has had his brain scrambled to persuade him to go on TV and exhort the revolutionaries to give up.

Katniss takes the gig at the behest of President Coin (Julianne Moore) on the advice of military adviser Plutarch Heavensbee (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who died a week before shooting on Mockingjay 2 was due to end).

I asked three youngsters how they felt about Mockingjay 1 and why. The two girls liked it because they enjoyed reading the book. The young man also enjoyed it but was reserving judgement until he saw Part 2, due out early next year, which he felt would clarify the issues he had perceived and perhaps surprise supporters of the book.

Watching President Coin addressing the multitude reminded me of Nazi propaganda minister Goebbels whose maxim was, tell a lie often enough and the people will eventually believe it is true. I reserve judgement on whether I will see Mockingjay 2. Parents of under-15s have no such option. The M classification requires one of them to accompany their offspring to see both parts.

At all cinemas