First Reactions to The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Call It the Franchise's Best, and Joseph Zada Is the Star

Photo: Elliott Brown from Birmingham, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The first reactions to The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping came after the London premiere on October 28, and they are glowing. Social posts are calling it the best film in the franchise, with one critic saying flatly that it is easily the best of the series. The full reviews are held until nearer the November 20 release.

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The most praised element is Joseph Zada as the young Haymitch. Reactions use words like electrifying and heartbreaking, and say he captures the charm and the bitterness of the character, which is the whole job of playing a younger version of someone we already know. Glenn Close and Jesse Plemons are singled out too, and Close is described as a scene-stealer.

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The tone is described as brutal and bleak. One critic called it a sobering story about the cost of rebellion and another said it will make you cry. Comparisons to Rogue One and Andor are in the mix, which suggests it leans toward the war story rather than the spectacle.

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I want to be careful. Premiere crowds are friendly, and the people who call something a masterpiece in October sometimes say it was fine by December. The one thing I would trust is the consistency, because the same points keep coming up, and that is more useful than any single adjective.

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Francis Lawrence directs, his fifth Hunger Games film after Catching Fire, both Mockingjay films and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Are you buying a ticket for opening night?