The original installment in “The Hunger Games” film series was released in 2012. It jump-started both the career of Jennifer Lawrence and the trend of young adult dystopian novel adaptations.

The silver screen became littered with movies like “Divergent,” “The Maze Runner” and “The Giver.” “The Hunger Games” series stood as a pinnacle of this genre.

The makers of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1” (Rated PG-13; 123 min) turn in the worst of the series, but an overall average movie.

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“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 1” is a young adult adaptation directed by Francis Lawrence and stars Jennifer Lawrence, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore and Liam Hemsworth.

The Hunger Games are over, but Katniss Everdeen, played by Lawrence, struggles with leaving them behind. The combination of haunting memories and regrets keep her from sleeping at night. She leaves Peeta, played by Josh Hutcherson and the others behind for the Capitol to capture her dreams.

She reluctantly becomes a symbol for the 12 Districts, inspiring them to rise up against the Capitol and fight for their freedom. This rebellion comes with violence and Peeta emerges as a tool against Katniss. Her world cracks further as the war rages on.

The Hunger Games was never the interesting aspect of this series. The concept is unoriginal. The unique and engaging parts are the world set up with the Capitol, the 12 districts and the main character of Katniss.

The disappointment lies in that. The games are now gone. What is left for this film is all the interesting parts of the books and movies, but they never use it to its extent.

The movie suffers from a lot of the same problems as its predecessors do. One big problem being how tame the film is. This might be a side effect of targeting a younger audience, but the world of Panem never seems as horrific as the characters say it is.

Both Gale, played by Hemsworth, and Peeta are underutilized again in this movie. These two characters, who are supposed to be incredibly important to Katniss, are never important to the story. They stay static and undeveloped, both having one thing that helps differentiate them.

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Gale is the tough, brooding one of the group. He is the guy Katniss can hunt with and be macho around. Peeta is the sensitive one who knows how to make food and talks eloquently in front of a crowd. They never go past these archetypes.

Lawrence is amazing as always. She is an actress with incredible range and the role of Katniss was the first sign of this. Katniss is the most compelling character of the series. Lawrence has been the key to the success of the character.

In “Catching Fire,” the previous film, Katniss started to go through post-traumatic stress disorder. The games nagged at her in her dreams and she constantly woke up screaming. In this movie, Katniss becomes this detached and frightened woman, a shell of what she once was. Any moment the idea of loss comes around, she breaks into tears in a way that is hard to watch.

This is the worst movie in the series. While the other two were not perfect, they were decent films. This one extenuates many of the other two films’ pitfalls. It is not a bad movie though. If you are a fan of this series or just looking for a movie to watch, you could do a lot worse. Like “Divergent” worse.

Stars: 3.5 out of 5

Jacob Pierce can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JacobPierce1_DE