Thankfully MUCH Better Than The First Installment

Rating: 7/10 (27 July 2015)

In some ways I was pretty reluctant in seeing this next installment of The Hunger Games film series because -
1) the first film bored the ever-loving pants off me (a view I still stand by), so I wasn't sure if I would want to see the next film.
2) I was intrigued to see what DID happen next.
However, after seeing The Hunger Games: Catching Fire I was actually surprised and I'll hold my hands up and say that it IS actually a very good film. Like I said, the first film was boring and very over-hyped, but this time it went the opposite way.
In saying that, though, it didn't start off that way as the first 40 minutes or so of this film was slow and I did actually think it was going to be worse than the first movie. Thankfully, it DID get better from about the hour mark, picking up in both pace & action. The acting wasn't anything special but it was believable and solid with good performances from Lawrence, Hoffman, and especially Harrelson.
Some elements of the first film that I didn't like have returned for this installment, the main one being the ridiculous Alice in Wonderland type costumes. Whether it's like that in the books or not I don't know as I've not read them, but that still doesn't stop me from thinking that some of the costumes were completely out of place. Some of the costumes just made it seem that you were watching two different film genres, but this is confined to mainly the first 40 or so minutes so.
Now, I'm definitely not a die-hard Hunger Games fan, but even I'll admit that it's getting very tiresome seeing the continual comparisons between this and the Battle Royale films. It was interesting to start with but I honestly wish people would just shut up about the comparisons because quite frankly it's becoming very tiresome & boring seeing it all the time. We all KNOW the films are similar, but enough is enough.
Anyway, if, like me, you almost gave up the series after watching the first film, stick with it because this one is MUCH better.