The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a noticeable upgrade from the franchise's previous movie in nearly every way. The odd pacing of director Gary Ross's The Hunger Games often meant the inherent thrills of a premise involving arena games in a dystopic future often took a back seat to YA melodrama at the oddest of moments. The tacky otherness of this futuristic society's attire and florid names of its characters were made unintentionally distracting by Ross's inexperience directing what in essence is just a dressed-up action film. Successor Francis Lawrence (I am Legend) instantly proves a better fit as director, darkening up the visuals, accentuating the filthiness of the coal-mining District 12 that heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) hails from, concealing the flamboyance of the class-divided country Panem and its Capitol if not entirely burying it.
