While the first half built nicely the second half fell into an abysmal, formulaic snoozefest.
Jennifer Lawrence displays her acting chops well in this film, but the rest of the cast is lowered into a shoebox.
The useless Liam Hemsworth struts around like an empty head of hair, Woody Harrelson delivers the weirdo factor like a low budget wizard, and Wes Bentley serves as the charming young wuss... whatever his name is.
Katniss is a well fleshed out, strong female character with a backstory. She eases onto the screen with a sense of ownership and strong female roles are important for girls. Why, then, is it necessary to consistently make the guys look like meat-headed imbeciles?