The Hunger Games

Not surprising, Book 2 was better than Book 1 so the movie should automatically be better ('course, that's never a given). I didn't like Book 3 as much as 2, so I'm figuring this as my finale and the last movie will just be a view-for-viewing-sake and nothing more. Then again, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised because it'll be better going in with such low expectations..

I did like the first half, it was the ending that annoyed me. Cool, thanks for letting me know FH!

It's rare that you hear that the movie is better than the book, but that's what they claim here. Caution, minor spoilers if you don't want to know before seeing it.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a captivating tale of privilege and PTSD
Charlie Jane Anders
11/22/13

The second Hunger Games movie builds on the emotional intensity of the first, telling a harrowing story of what happens when you win a deadly game by playing dirty. Catching Fire is the rare film that's better than the original book. Even if you've memorized Suzanne Collins' text, you'll get something new out of it.

Minor spoilers ahead...

Nordling Reviews THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE!
Published at: Nov. 21, 2013

Capone says emotional weight makes THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE a seriously thrilling experience!!!
Published at: Nov. 20, 2013

According to this review, that issue was taken care of quite nicely with the way the set was shown:

How Catching Fire Fixed All the Worst Mistakes The Hunger Games Made
Meredith Woerner on io9
11/25/13

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire made all the money this weekend, raking in a record-topping $161.1 million. But that's not all this YA sequel did for the movie franchise. Catching Fire actually goes about unchecking our long list of problems with the first Hunger Games film, resetting the franchise both for die-hard fans and people who enjoy coherent action scenes. Here's our list of the many ways Catching Fire the film fixed the ridiculous choices and problems in The Hunger Games. Many spoilers ahead!

In the first movie, 24 kids get thrown in a wooded area and forced to fight. In the second movie, 24 victors were thrown into a reverse-engineered lagoon with 12 different sections that would each unleash some sort of hell at various hours in the day depending on the time. The second movie was easier to follow. How is this possible? NO SHAKY CAM.

The mockingjay watch hint from Plutarch. Let's be real, once you saw an aerial shot of the arena, you didn't need any more hints. It's a clock.

Cool! I'm hoping to make it during the day sometime this week before the kids get out of school.

Finally got to go see it the day before yesterday - awesomeness! Saw the preview for Divergent again and realized I need to download that series and get cracking on reading it. I doubt it's going to be as good, but the reviews make me think I'll enjoy it nonetheless.