The Hunger Games was a breakout franchise, quickly earning its place as one of the most successful dystopian franchises. Katniss Everdeen was a solid protagonist who was easy to root for. Her heart was in the right place from the immediate way she saved Prim from the Arena by volunteering in her place. The Hunger Games franchise raised the stakes as time grew closer to the final rebellion against President Snow, which would result in his removal from power. While each of the films had their ups and downs, including how true they stayed to the books, not all the movies were equally successful.
The Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer shows there is a clear distinction as the movies continue between which were considered the best and which received the lower ratings. There were four films in total to tell the story of three books, and each one gave more insight into the lives of Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne, and Haymitch Abernathy. The movies expanded on the books, moving beyond Katniss' first-person narration to show the world beyond the Arena, which offered more time to show the Gamemakers make decisions and the citizens of the Districts respond to the events unfolding on screen.
4 Mockingjay: Part 1 (2014) - 69%
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Mockingjay: Part 1 utilizes its actors well, with Jennifer Lawrence portraying the mix of overwhelmed emotions Katniss has toward discovering District 12 is gone, being introduced to District 13, needing to be the face of the rebellion, and reacting to Josh Hutcherson's emotional driven performance as the slowly tortured, and later hijacked, Peeta. Unfortunately, Mockingjay: Part 1 is also a great example of why the final book may not have needed to be cut in half. The novel itself was not the most exciting, and as most of the action happens in the second half of the story, most of Mockingjay: Part 1 is set up, and sadly, it is also fairly dull.
That matches the book quite well, as there is not much excitement in the novel at this point either. While it makes sense that the franchise wanted to spread the story to two films for box office revenue and to give a better understanding of the dynamics of District 13, the stakes are not raised enough during this film to justify such a slow movie occurring between the action-packed Catching Fire and the final war in Mockingjay: Part 2.
3 Mockingjay: Part 2 (2015) - 70%
Not ranked much higher than its predecessor, is the franchise's final installment. Granted, the large-scale rebel war audiences had been waiting for does not end up being much of anything. It is not the fast takeover people are expecting, and instead, the movie concludes with sacrificial deaths leading to the Capitol's demise, President Snow revealing to Katniss that he is dying anyway, and to keep an eye on President Coin. While once again, the movie is filled with solid performances, Mockingjay: Part 2 features more mini obstacles in preparation for the actual rebellion rather than devoting time to a true war.
Mockingjay: Part 2 is mostly about getting to the end, rather than taking in all the emotional moments the series would need heading into its final moments. While the series delivers on the book's promise of showing Katniss and Peeta married with children, the movie never quite managed to offer the dying characters the emotional weight they deserved.
2 The Hunger Games (2012) - 84%
The Hunger Games had a lot of work to do. Introducing the characters, the world, and the stakes, this movie needed to make the audience fall in love with the characters and their relationships in order to create a solid foundation for the following films. The Hunger Games understood what it needed to incorporate from the novels for the movie to work, and it does for the most part. While certain details are dropped, the movie, for the most part, captures the horrors of the Arena, the fear that follows everyone, and the complex relationships the Tributes grow to have.
Katniss and Peeta's relationship needs to win over the Capitol and the watching viewers in order for the rest of the franchise to work. Katniss' decision to make the Gamemakers decide the fate of Katniss and Peeta's lives is the event that changes everything for the two Tributes moving forward. It is clear from the conclusion of the film that while Katniss and Peeta may have survived the Arena, their troubles are just beginning.
1 Catching Fire (2013) - 90%
In a rare moment, the sequel outdoes the original. Catching Fire goes deeper than The Hunger Games. It returns to the Arena, but with only experienced surviving Tributes. Instead of a group of uncertain children, most of these people are adults having already experienced The Hunger Games, and every single one of them is enraged at the thought of returning to the place of nightmares. Katniss and Peeta's trauma from their time in the Arena hits full force, and the heart of their dynamic shines through as they need to rely on each other to get through this.
Allowing Katniss and Peeta to be on the same side from the beginning while offering them new allies means they have a chance to turn the tables. But, one of the things that work best about this movie is how it needs to end differently to send them into the final installments, and that declaration comes from discovering that District 12 has been destroyed. Katniss' battle with President Snow has been ongoing, and Catching Fire perfectly sets up the stakes of preparing for what comes next.