So after about a day to really think over my feelings after going to the premiere of this movie, I have decided something. Before I tell you what I’ve decided, let me tell you about what I thought of the books by Suzanne Collins in The Hunger Games series and the previous movie.

First off, I thought the books were brilliant. Second, I didn’t think the first movie was that  good. It was slow at times and the camera shook around a lot. However, I thought the movie for the second book Catching Fire did the book justice.   It was fantastic. They got a new director and it really shows. The camera shaking was done away with and that made the action scenes a lot more enjoyable than they were in the first film.

All the actors in this movie are fantastic. Josh Hutcherson really steps it up this time around and does a really good job as Peeta Mellark. Jennifer Lawrence also does considerably better as Katniss. However, they still are not the best performances in this film. By far the top three performances were by Donald Sutherland as President Snow, Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair, and Jena Malone as Johanna Mason. The three of these characters were major show stealers in my opinion. One of my major problems with the first movie (and book as well) was that there’s no real villain. In fact when I read Catching Fire I didn’t really think President Snow was a good villain. Especially considering he was barely in it. President Snow is more present in this movie than he was in the book, and that helps a lot to make him a really fantastic villain. He’s very menacing and has some really good scenes with his granddaughter in the movie.

Sam Claflin was very charismatic as Finnick Odair. He really seems like what I imagine celebrities like George Clooney or Robert Downey Jr. are in real life. That adds a lot to the film. Then there’s Jena Malone as Johanna Mason. She was fantastic. There are some very hilarious scenes with her, and they are some of the most memorable in the film.

Like I said before, the action in this movie is very well done, when there actually is action. That’s something I admire– there isn’t a lot of action. Most of the movie is leading up to the games. When I read the book, I thought the section leading up to the games were very poorly paced. The movie has the opposite problem. The first half or possibly even two-thirds are very compelling, it’s only until we get to the actual games that it gets sort of boring. That part really feels like a rehash of the first film.  To be honest, it’s is exactly that. The ending is underwhelming in my opinion. The image I had in my head while reading the book was spectacular.  The ending proves once again that books are often better than movies.

Overall, I thought the movie was fantastic, but had a few problems. I give it a 9/10

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