THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE

The sequel to any insanely successful film doesn’t always guarantee that it will be better - definitely bigger, but not always better. Luckily for 'The Hunger Games' follow up ‘Catching Fire’, it’s both. After pocketing almost $700 million the first time around, and with a freshly minted Oscar winner already cemented as their star, bucketloads of money have simply been thrown at this production, knowing it will be returned 10-fold. Fortunately, Suzanne Collins’ books have provided a rich dystopian world to pull from, ensuring that there is also quality to go along with the quantity.

Sporting a new director, Francis Lawrence (‘I Am Legend’), Gary Ross left the project sighting insufficient pre-production time, and new screenwriter, Academy award-winning Simon Beaufoy (‘Slumdog Millionaire’), ‘Catching Fire’ is simply “more”. While the first film was deemed a success critically, some still found it a little soft and boring considering the subject matter - well, let's just say that those concerns have well and truly been quashed for round two. Firstly, the stakes are much, much higher. What’s more important than saving your own life? How about the lives of millions? On the cusp of a nation-wide revolution with Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) as the rebellion’s symbol of hope, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) looks to reignite fear in Panem’s population. So long as there is hope there is no fear. The victors represent hope, and so Snow initiates the “Quarter Quell”, a 75th anniversary Hunger Games which gathers its tributes from the pool of past victors.