a great sequel, powerful but not as character led as the first

Rating: 7/10 (28 December 2013)

This is the second installment in The Hunger Games trilogy; a dystopic world where the difference between the rich and the poor is absolute and what society there is, is largely based on fantasy (in the capital) and hard graft and scratching a living in the rest of the country. The idea behind the story is fabulous, extremely clever and rather original but in the films I find the eccentric dress of the "society" people really overly flamboyant. I know it's a symptom of the greater problem but it's not adequately explained and doesn't make sense to me. The costumes are a riot though!
There are shadows of the Reich in the way that punishment is metered out for those considered insubordinate, and certain sections of society are considered not in favour, and the way that revolution is quashed is insidious and frightening; the scheming of the higher powers behind the scenes. The rallying behind the tributes Catniss and Peeta is moving and uplifting and whilst that is emotive, the characters of the tributes (other than Catness and Peeta) aren't really as in depth as in the first film. I'd not read this one first, whereas had for the original film so perhaps that made a difference. It was however highly emotional and gripping for the most part. I found my attention waining, and there being too much contrivance in the dome this time, less suspense with the challenges they face, and some plot contrivance was predictable. There was some unpredictability in the film, however, just when I was thinking I was frustrated with the length of one bit, there was a curve ball and the film was over!
It's an impressive film, like the first, with huge spectacle and drama, fast-paced action, but rather disjointed in terms of pacing to begin with. I found that a little annoying, as scenes are short and choppy and clearly heavily edited as they are trying to pack a lot of narrative into film introduction. It means that you don't have time to emotionally invest. Most of the acting is good, with a few hammy performances but as in the last film Jennifer Lawrence stands out by a long way and steels every scene. Her emotional range is excellent, and I imagine that some of the scenes must have been quite draining. I didn't feel so connected to characters in this film, and as such I feel this one slightly less successful than the first. I wasn't so invested and there was a certain safe predictability.
Overall a great entertaining film, well worth the watch if you enjoyed the first. It doesn't really stand alone, so you'd need background, but I would recommend it. It's a good sequel in that it doesn't disappoint after the first, and has a point to it, and is quite a visually enjoyable film but wasn't as gripping as The Hunger Games.