The film centres around Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, the two victors of the 74th Hunger Games. They must go around to all 12 districts to pay thanks to the families of each fallen tribute. Once this is done, the 75th Hunger Games approaches. These games are different – every 25 years a twist happens in the games. This event is called the Quarter Quell. This years quarter quell forces the tributes to be reaped from the existing pool of victors. Katniss and Peeta are both headed back into the arena.
We meet loads of new characters. The main ones being Finnick O’Dair (Portrayed by Sam Clafflin), Johanna Mason (Jena Malone), Beetee (Jeffrey Wright) and Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Fans of the book will be pleased to know that all of the new actors portray their characters as you would expect by reading the book. I was impressed as I had my doubts with a lot of them. I must also mention Jennifer Lawrence continuted to amaze me with her portrayal of Katniss. Someone just give her another Oscar already!
The film is visually stunning. The special effects have stepped up a lot since the first film (as you would expect with a bigger budget). The sets and camera angles are breathtaking. If possible, watch the film in IMAX as all of the arena scenes were filmed with IMAX cameras giving it a completely different feel the second that Katniss enters the arena.
Character development has been improved this time around. While all of the new minor tributes have around the same amount of screen time as those in the first film, you grow to care for them this time. So it is upsetting when some of them die. There is one scene in particular which involves fog. I would recommend tissues – fans of the book will know what I’m talking about.
There are some changes from the book. Some unnecessary moments have been cut however most of these were for the better. The only changes that I didn’t particularly like involved some Katniss and Gale moments that were clearly added to keep the non-existent love triangle that the media goes on about going. Also, fans of the book will remember the characters of Bonnie and Twill telling Katniss about a 13th district. These two characters were cut from the film and I feel the way that District 13 was introduced was done during a last minute re-write of the script. It could have been done much better.
In saying that, I prefer this sequel to the original film. Fans of the book should not be disappointed. I would like to thank Roadshow Films for the premiere invite and IMAX Sydney for the wonderful venue.
4/5.
