Excellent Drama. Riveting

Rating: 9/10 (12 March 2014)

President Snow (Donald Sutherland) fears that Katniss Everdeen's (Jennifer Lawrence) victory in the last Hunger Games threatens his rule and declares a Quell whereby the winners of all previous Games will go head-to-head with each other. And, he hopes Katniss will be defeated and not win giving Hope to the people to overthrow him.
So here we go watching Katniss prepare for the new Games. She knows she must go through with it or her family will be murdered. She is grateful that, this time, young children will not be killed as in the last Games. And, gone is the benefit that a previous Hunger Games winner will enjoy a life of ease. Now all previous winners must participate and they don't like it.
The first half of this is slow, but we are watching Katniss deal with everything and tension and suspense abound. The thing that struck me were the dialogues as they kept me riveted to my seat. The dialogues were spot on with honesty and subtle anger and humor at times. An example of subtle anger: Katniss tells the President, "why don't you kill me now?" Of course Snow would like to, but he needs everything to be legal and so the Quell. Snow still fears Hope among the people and Katniss as the cause of it, and that must be put to rest.
We are introduced to the other players, but once the Games begin, we only see bits and pieces of them. What we don't see are the people watching on TV like we saw in the first movie.
All in all, this is excellent drama and we have the same fears as Katniss and are wary of everything around us. um, I mean her. Plutarch (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is the one we are most wary about as he is the Games Master and pulls all strings (read obstacles) during the Games. We need to watch him very carefully.
One of the most dramatic scenes is when Katniss is introduced to the people again, and she comes out in a wedding dress and what happens next tells President Snow that he is being mocked. Great stuff.
The acting by all is excellent but, Jennifer Lawrence must be singled out as she is perfect. And, the questions begin: will Katniss go with Team Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) or Team Gayle (Liam Hemsworth)? Will the Hunger Games finally stop? Will the revolution actually take place? Inquiring minds are at it again.
The ending is too abrupt and we don't like it, but we are reminded that other sequels are in play and we will find out more in the next movie and we can't wait. Boo Hoo! (9/10)
Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.