Despite some occasionally poorly-aged CGI and a streamlined narrative that really focuses on preserving the action and main story beats rather than character nuance or works building, this remains a solid YA adaptation that preserves both the heart and the core message of the source material.

Of course, when you have a cast this strong, combined with an incredible costume department and choreographers, that strong core is elevated even further. Jennifer Lawrence may not quite be at her absolute best, but she plays the role with a subtlety of emotion that works well enough, whilst the more senior cast take what can be slightly absurd and caricatured characters and manage to make them their own. Plus, somehow all of the Tributes manage to have at least a few moments where they can shine, and in a rare casting success, all pull it off.

The result is both impressive and annoying. Annoying because I do think the books would work better as a TV series, giving more time to flesh out the interpersonal conflicts much more. But impressive because I don't think you could recast these characters and come close to what we already have. Maybe they can just digitally redo some of the fire effects and Mutt designs for an extended cut release in the future 😅