The Hunger Games:

Catching Fire (12A, 146 mins)

Director: Francis Lawrence

4 stars

ON its release last spring, The Hunger Games was undoubtedly expected to be some sort of success.

In fact it turned out to be a bona fide blockbuster, to the extent that not two but three more films were immediately greenlit from the two remaining books in the young adult trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

That's right procrastination fans, in a practice started by Harry Potter and for which Twilight then took up the baton, Mockingjay will be two films; one released this time next year, and the final film the year after that.

That speaks of the massive cash cow the series has become, but any heightened expectations for a return to the world can also be attributed to the fact the first film was really rather good.

If you skipped that first movie, there's no hope for you here, as we're thrust back into the life of our heroine, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, now an Oscar winner, and an iconic presence throughout).

Katniss won the 74th Hunger Games and is now back in her District alongside Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), with the pair of champions tasked with a promotional tour of the 12 Districts of Panem.

The president (Donald Sutherland) sees her as a threat and, smelling rebellion and uprising in the air, hits on the idea of making the next Hunger Games a battle between previous champions, to eliminate as many of them as possible.

Newly on board is Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Gamemaker, aiding the president in his schemes.

It's a world of poverty and hunger, except for the rich and pampered in the Capitol, and is presented as even more of a sinister and dystopian future than before. This is not some bright and colourful fantasy land, but one cut through with a deep and abiding sorrow.

The story is told in ways that are intriguing, dangerous and smart, touching on the chasm between ordinary people and those in power, and the way in which our obsession with celebrity can be used to hide away from the real problems in the world.

Once the Games begin, it moves into a gripping and exciting jungle adventure that offers more than just a re-run of the first, only occasionally dipping in pace while keeping one eye on the bigger picture.

Slightly letting down the side are combat scenes that can be a bit shaky and poorly edited, toning down what should really be brutal violence to nab the audience-friendly 12A certificate.

But it's the themes and characters that count more than the action, and this is a stirring instalment that leaves it all to play for in the final two films.

See it if you liked: The Hunger Games, Twilight, Children of Men

The Family (15, 111 mins)

Director: Luc Besson

2 stars

New York mafia clan the Manzonis, comprised of Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and their teenage son and daughter, have been moved all over France as part of the witness protection programme.

Quite why they're in France and not the USA is never quite broached, but we meet them just as they're settling in to a small town in Normandy, where Tommy Lee Jones is their FBI handler and where every single person happens to speak perfect English.

The various misadventures of each family member form what are little more than a mismatched jumble of sketches, the punchlines of which arise because they're criminals.

So Pfeiffer blows up a supermarket because the cashier annoyed her, De Niro beats up the plumber for overcharging him, and the kids have their own rackets going.

The mob hitmen on their trail means it takes an action turn eventually, and though it's not really played for big laughs, just a certain veneer of irony, the tonal awkwardness might have been easier to overlook had it simply been funnier.

The slightly goofy tone is at odds with the violence and it's all just a bit dumb and clumsy, albeit with one or two nice touches.

These mostly come from De Niro and the flashback scenes to his mob days that remind you of just how good he was in his films with Scorsese, and it's great to see him in a gangster's suit again, however briefly.

This is the second of three big screen comedies for him this year following the heinous goings on of The Big Wedding. Let's hope the upcoming Last Vegas gives him a better opportunity to shine, but The Family will mostly make you want to run home and watch Goodfellas.

See it if you liked: The Whole Nine Yards, Married to the Mob, We're the Millers

Parkland (15, 94 mins)

Director: Peter Landesman

3 stars

Released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK, this often soapy drama introduces us to the key figures directly involved in the aftermath, among them Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti), the only person to film the shooting.

The Parkland of the title is the Dallas hospital where President Kennedy was taken after being shot, and we meet the doctors, led by Zac Efron, who fight desperately to save his life.

But this stuff comes off worst, glossy and inert and without a proper character in sight.

It's all very reverential, but there's some value in the perhaps little-known details that would ordinarily be of little dramatic worth, given import by this cataclysmic event, like the bunfight over who gets the body.

But elsewhere there's little to compel, too many faces and too many fragments, and it's left to Jacki Weaver as Lee Harvey Oswald's unhinged mother to provide the main reason to keep watching.

See it if you liked: JFK, Love Field, Bobby

Blue is the Warmest Colour (18, 180 mins)

Director: Abdellatif Kechiche

3 stars

Winner of the Palmes d'Or at this year's Cannes, this largely absorbing French drama chronicles in unsparing detail the romance that blossoms between teenager Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and the more experienced Emma (Léa Seydoux).

It works best in a first half that's all about newness and discovery and excitement, that gives way to jealousies and recriminations in a still powerful but less focussed second half.

It's a frequently stunning piece of filmmaking, anchored by the astonishingly good Exarchopoulos, whose displays of raw emotion are quite something to watch, but unless the story is being told as two films or a TV series, there's simply no justification for the three hour running time.

Most scenes go on for a good minute or two longer than necessary and though there's still much to admire, it soon begins to smack of indulgence.