The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The phenomenal box office receipts generated by the first two chapters of the Hunger Games franchise continue to impress me. For although both films are smarter than you'd think, they are both essentially empty shells, whose sole reason for being seems to be the climactic fights to the death referenced in the title. Yet for a second film in a row now, they are treated as afterthoughts in a story thats really about which guy Jennifer Lawrence chooses. Lawrence is watchable in anything and thankfully the films supporting cast is peppered with great talent, inlcuding the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as the new Games master, but the plot is scattered at best, incoherent at worst and never fully engages the audience in either the action or the romance departments. Though as a bridge film, leading to a grand 2-part MockingJay finale, you could do a lot worse I suppose.