Good improvement from the first

Rating: 7/10 (3 December 2013)

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) are home after winning the Hunger Games. Katniss is sparking some rebellious acts. President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is desperate to reign in the opposition by co-opting the Katniss-Peeta relationship. Only they have barely spoke in the last 6 months, and she is still with Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth). Snow forces Katniss and Peeta to fake their relationship, and institute a winners-only 75th Hunger Games as a way to maintain control.
I've never read the books. Looking at only the movies, this is a good improvement over the first one. Katniss and Peeta are more developed characters. Their relationship has a lot more color. It is the emotional content where most of the improvement has occurred. The most interesting new character has to be Johanna Mason (Jena Malone). She adds a bit of wild energy to the movie.
The production value takes a small step forward. The apocalyptic sets are still looking too sparse. The bigger CGI settings still has an older iteration feel. I like the monkeys, and the birds scenes. It's a good improvement from the last games. Overall, this movie is a good step up. It actually makes me looking forward to the next movie.