Improves Upon Everything That Needed Improving

Rating: 9/10 (25 November 2013)

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire improves upon almost every one of the (already few) imperfections of the first stellar movie. Most notably, the intensely dramatic and emotional scenes are better emphasized this time around. Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal of Katniss is better than ever, though her sister and mother are still lackluster. Hutcherson's performance has improved greatly compared to his first turn. The rest of the A-list cast (Harrelson, Banks, Kravits, Sutherland, Tucci, and newcomer Hoffman) continue to give all-star portrayals. This movie is all around bigger and better than its predecessor. The scope feels larger and the grand scheme of the story is beginning to develop. This movie is darker and more morbid due simply to its story content, and I absolutely love that about it. Again, it was the best possible film adaptation of the book. The main drawback is the somewhat rushed middle section (and some points towards the end). At just under 2.5 hours, I still think they could've added ~15 minutes to expand upon the movie's ideas, themes, and character introductions that happened around that time without turning people away for thinking it's too long. Overall, Catching Fire is one of the few blockbuster sequels that is able to truly outshine the incredible original, and it sets the bar high for two even more hotly anticipated sequels with great promise in their future. 8.9/10