Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2014

This may be one of those rare sequels that are better than the first film. Katniss is finding her victory in that film’s lethal Games to be not without emotional scars, considering that she had to kill 22 people to achieve it. Now she has been enlisted by the despotic President Snow for a PR campaign to disabuse the oppressed masses of the notion that she may represent rebellion. And she has to enter another battle to the death, this time against an all-star array of past winners. Not only did I like this one better, its cliffhanger ending made me hungry for the next installment. (146 min)