A stunning masterpiece!

Rating: 9/10 (22 November 2013)

OK, I have been waning to start writing reviews for movies, books, TV shows and music for quite some time now. Never a better time to begin than with the latest version of the Hunger Games!
Since I never read the second book (I did read the first, however since I felt they did such a great job at adapting the book to the movie I didn't feel the need to read the second book) I cannot judge the adaptation from book to movie, therefore my review is based solely on the theatrical version.
Story: Very well done indeed. While a tad predictable, the story is done well-enough to keep you involved until the end. The build-up is very dramatic and it has some very good twists that will leave your jaw on the ground.
Presentation: The film looks beautiful. It is very similar to the first movie in many aspects (which is a good thing considering the first movie was so good to begin with), and nothing is left out in this one either. My only grip is that the battle scenes in this one were weaker than the first movie. Again I didn't read the book this time but I remember from reading the first book I felt like the battle scenes in that one were way dumbed down and I felt the scenes in this one were even weaker than the first. I understand they are placating to a "PG-13" audience which is why the battles are not very gory and detailed but the whole "games" scenes in this movie just seemed very rushed to me. That would be one of my major gripes but again I never read the book so I don't know if that was intentional or not... nevertheless the film looked amazing and seemed like they were able to switch between drab and vibrant environments so seamlessly. The special effects were very well done, quite impressive indeed!
Overall: I would say this movie did a great job of setting up the finale. A lot of this movie seemed to mirror the first one (and if you were a fan of the first movie you will love this one, too) but I don't think they will be able to go the same route in the finale. I feel it will be much different in style. But there was much to love about Part II; from the engaging story, strong acting, special effects, etc. It had that very "epic" feel to it, with an amazing ending which just left you salivating for the finale. They've done a very good job with this series and you could tell that they didn't want to change much from the previous installment.
**** 1/2 (out of 5)