EVERY REVOLUTION BEGINS WITH A SPARK. 

After winning the Hunger Games, tributes Katniss and Peeta (Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson) inspire rebellions in several districts, and President Snow (Donald Sutherland) comes up with a new version of the games.

The sequel has a new director and a somewhat darker shade of colors, but it is also obvious that a successful formula is repeated. Still, the games in the film’s second half are exciting and handsomely staged; long, but fans get what they expect and the mechanics of a dictatorship are explored in effective ways.

Good cast, with an ambiguous performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

2013-U.S. 146 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Francis Lawrence. Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Michael Arndt. Novel: Suzanne Collins. Song: “Atlas” (performed by Coldplay). Cast: Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark), Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne), Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci, Lennie Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Toby Jones, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Amanda Plummer, Alan Ritchson. 

Trivia: Joe Cornish and J.A. Bayona were considered for directing duties; Garrett Hedlund was offered a role. Followed by The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014).