Hunger Games Reviews: Our Verdict on Every Film

Our Hunger Games movie reviews give one verdict per film, and the short version is that Catching Fire is the best of the five, with the first film close behind. These are reviews of the films only, so if you were looking for the stage show, this is not it, and if you want to know how the novels differ, hunger games books vs movies covers that. Every verdict below is my opinion. A single percentage score tells you how many critics liked a film rather than how much, which is why I give a reason for each pick instead of a number.

The Hunger Games (2012), directed by Gary Ross, is a good film whose best stretch comes before the arena. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers at the reaping in District 12 to take the place of her younger sister Primrose, and the film then spends real time on the Capitol: the styling under Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), the coaching from Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) and the television gloss of Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman. At 142 minutes it is patient, and, in my opinion, the arena sequences are less sharp than the build up, which is its main weakness. It cost $78 million and took about $695 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, the best return on budget of the five. If you are new to the series, start here.

Catching Fire, directed by Francis Lawrence, is my pick for the best film, so if you are looking for a Hunger Games 2 review, this is the one I rate highest. Its premise is the cleverest in the series: Katniss and Peeta have survived, and President Snow uses the Victory Tour to force them into a devoted couple act, threatening her family and friends if she fails. When her gestures stir the districts instead, Gale is publicly whipped, and the victory stops feeling like one. The ensemble grows with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee, Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair, Jena Malone as Johanna Mason and Jeffrey Wright as Beetee. It runs 146 minutes, cost $130 million and made about $870 million worldwide, the most of any film in the saga. The hunger games soundtrack is also at its most varied here, with Coldplay's Atlas and Sia's Elastic Heart among the songs.

Mockingjay Part 1, also directed by Francis Lawrence, is the film I admire more than I enjoy. Katniss is pulled out of the arena into District 13, where President Coin (Julianne Moore) and Plutarch want her to become the Mockingjay, a public face for the uprising, while Peeta appears on Capitol broadcasts. The subject is image making, and that is a worthwhile subject for a series about television. But, at 123 minutes, the shortest of the main films, it feels like the first half of a story, which it is. The two Mockingjay films were shot back to back at a reported $250 million, according to TheWrap, and Part 1 made about $762 million on a $125 million budget. My advice is to watch it only when Part 2 is ready to press play.

Mockingjay Part 2 works best as a war film in miniature. Katniss joins the push on District 2, is placed in a hand picked unit with Gale, Finnick and Peeta, and is told to stay clear of the fighting and to take a suicide pill if she is captured. The unit structure gives the film a tension that Part 1 lacked, and the Berlin locations, including 12 days at Tempelhof, give Panem a harder look. It cost $160 million, the most of the main films, and earned about $684 million, the least of the four. The final act is where viewers disagree, and I will not spoil it here: for me it is the weakest ending of the main films, though the build to it is strong.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel spin-off set about ten years after the First Rebellion and more than sixty years before the original Games. Tom Blyth plays the young Coriolanus Snow, a student from a fallen Capitol family who mentors Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the District 12 tribute in the 10th Games. Peter Dinklage, Viola Davis, Hunter Schafer and Jason Schwartzman fill out a strong supporting cast. I think it is a fair attempt at a hard task, which is making the audience sympathize with a man they know becomes a tyrant, and Lucy Gray Baird gives it a warmth the main films rarely have. At 157 minutes it is the longest film in the series, and that length is where it loses me.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has no verdict yet because it has not been released. Sunrise on the Reaping opens in the US on November 20, 2026, according to TheWrap, and TMDB lists the same date for the UK, which makes the UK date reported rather than confirmed. Francis Lawrence directs per TMDB. No Australian date has been reported. The sunrise on the reaping trailer page tracks what has been shown so far, and I will add a verdict here after it opens.

The Hunger Games (2012) is the right first film for almost everyone, because every later film assumes you have seen the reaping and the Games. After that, follow the hunger games movies in order and treat Catching Fire as the high point. If you would rather see how I rank them with reasons, hunger games movies ranked sets out the full list, and where to watch hunger games shows what is streaming in the US, UK and Australia. For the cast behind each film, see hunger games cast, and for the money side, hunger games box office.