Critics say Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire is 'better than the original' Watch the final trailer for the hotly anticipated film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Katniss (played by Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) in a scene from film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Source: Supplied THE first reviews for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire are in. And critics have given the hotly-anticipated sequel a resounding thumbs-up. The Hunger Games featured kids killing kids for sport. Its sequel, the far superior The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, rewrites the rules, which not only makes for a more exciting death match, but also yields a rich sociopolitical critique in the process," said Variety's Peter Debruge. Though technically just the bridge between the lower-budget original and the two-part finale still to come, in director Francis Lawrence's steady hands Catching Fire makes for rousing entertainment in its own right, leaving fans riled and ready to storm the castle. The Hollywood Reporter was just as enthusiastic. "As faithful as Argos or Old Yeller, Snowy or Hachiko, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire runs no risk of disappointing its absolutely ravenous target audience," said Todd McCarthy. Serving up everything from Suzanne Collins' eventful second instalment in her trilogy about teenage warrior and rebel Katniss Everdeen that fans could possibly want to see, this is a safe, serviceable, carefully crafted action drama in which the subversive seeds planted in the first story take welcome root. As before, Jennifer Lawrence is the superb centre of it all and the massive success of this Lionsgate release is as certain as the turning of the Earth. The response from the British press was a little more measured but similarly positive. "The second instalment of the Hunger Games franchise is a definite improvement on its predecessor," said The Independent. This is a darker, more mature film which accentuates yet further the Orwellian elements in the Suzanne Collins novels from which it is adapted. Giving the sequel four stars, The Telegraph's Robbie Collin "couldn't wait for the next one." It's a critic's instinct to auto-praise any blockbuster that tries to do something different, but Catching Fire is so committed to carrying on the fine work started by its predecessor that the applause flows utterly naturally The Hunger Games took $US690 million at the global box office. Catching Fire is expected to do significantly better. An earlier report in Variety said analyst Alan Gould of Evercore had predicted that the Hunger Games sequel would gross $US950 million world wide. Only 21 films have managed that feat.