'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Review: A Superior Sequel That Raises the Stakes
By Dan Bremner - November 15, 2026
The second film in the smash-hit The Hunger Games franchise based on the young-adult book series, and the most critically-acclaimed of the series as a whole. I missed Catching Fire in cinemas the first time around and only caught it on this re-release ahead of Sunrise on the Reaping. I was unfairly dismissive of the series at the start, writing it off as a Battle Royale knock-off. The films have grown on me a great deal since. They now sit comfortably as the best young-adult franchise after Harry Potter. Catching Fire feels like a clear jump in quality from the The Hunger Games: bigger, more controlled, richer in world-building, and free of the shaky-cam action that dragged the original down.
Jennifer Lawrence gives her best work in the series here. She plays Katniss with layered vulnerability, quiet intensity and the weight of unwanted celebrity and trauma. The performance stays compelling. She never turns the character into a glossy chosen-one figure, instead she's a reluctant symbol of hope, a role she doesn't want and is forced on her, which is a much more interesting angle.
The supporting cast is stacked and consistently strong. Philip Seymour Hoffman arrives as Plutarch Heavensbee and immediately adds charm and presence. Jena Malone steals scenes as Johanna Mason. Sam Claflin makes Finnick both charming and damaged. Jeffrey Wright and Amanda Plummer bring distinct flavours as Beetee and Wiress. Returning players such as Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks and Josh Hutcherson all get sharper material. Sutherland in particular does absolutely amazing work in making Snow a disturbingly calm and threatening monster. Alan “Reacher” Ritchson also shows up briefly as a tribute. Thank god he was not yet the size he is now, or the Games would have been over in minutes. Katniss would not have stood a chance.
Character work is generally stronger across the board. Katniss’s reluctant shift into a symbol lands. New alliances among the Victors keep the games interesting without feeling like a rehash. Relationships with Haymitch and the new allies feel more earned. Peeta remains a problem. He still plays like an irritating toddler Katniss has to babysit and repeatedly stops from getting himself killed. Why she remains so attached is a mystery the franchise never solves. I don't get it.
Francis Lawrence takes over directing duties from Gary Ross (who?) and improves almost every technical aspect. Action is clearer and better choreographed. Pacing is tighter. The film balances quieter character scenes with larger spectacle and simply feels more confident and cinematic than its predecessor. There's an abundance of memorable set-pieces that look sharper and feel bigger, like the opening rush of the games, the rotating platform, escaping from poisonous gas and even some monkey madness (Chimpanzee That). It's easy to see why Lawrence was kept on to pretty much run the franchise from this point onwards.
Production design, costumes and cinematography are all strong once again. Jo Willems gives District 12, the Victory Tour and the Capitol distinct visual identities. The arena itself is inventive and dangerous without relying solely on digital excess. Capitol fashion hits its peak here in something grotesque, colourful and revealing of the world that produced it. There's a really nice mix of practical and digital work here, clear built sets with incredible costumes, with digital used to emphasise scale and help make the world feel bigger.
The Quarter Quell arena delivers the film’s most exciting sequences. Creative threats and rising body counts keep the tension high while still serving character and plot. I love the idea of the area being a clock split off into sections with a new threat on the hour. The story escalates cleanly from personal survival to wider rebellion and ends on a cliff-hanger that actually works. I hope they make a sequel, it seems like they could do something there.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a massively improved sequel that takes things in a far more interesting direction. The world-building helps raise it above its clear influences, Lawrence still makes for a compelling lead with a stacked cast of supporting roles, the action is bigger and more clear, and its extended runtime goes far quicker than I remembered. Easily the best in the franchise.
Follow our Retro Reviews of 'The Hunger Games' series as we get closer to the release of 'The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping'.
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Dan Bremner
Writer
Dan is a writer from Guildford with a love for all things genre, schlocky, and thoroughly '80s, and a part-time philanthropist.
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