By Renee’ Collins
Rating: 4 (Out of 5 Reels)
I enjoyed watching the first installment of this series and looked forward to seeing the latest film. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem (IMDB).
The first film did not blow me away but I thought it was interesting and the characters kept me engaged throughout the first film. Here, it is a lot of the same because it seemed to me that they rehashed what was done in the first film in a way. I think the actors did a good job especially Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman the flamboyant on air host of the Hunger Games and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutchard Heavensbee the man in charge of ensuring the games go as planned. These two enhance this film immensely with their performances.
From a technical standpoint this film is stunning from the costumes to the special effect as in the first film. Unfortunately, I found this film way too long and somewhat boring because I felt like it was rehashing what had already been done in the first film. I believe it could have been an hour shorter and been a much better film. However, I am looking forward to seeing the conclusion and am hoping what I heard is not true about making the last part into two films; yikes! All in all this film is well made and acted and worth a look but as usual I wouldn’t pay full price to see it.