Jennifer Lawrence is plain brilliant in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

In the future, everyone will have silly names. Some people will be called Haymitch Abernathy. Others will be Effie Trinket or Finnick Odair. And they’ll all live in various districts, numbered from one to 12. And because those districts rebelled against the ruling regime that one time, their children might be selected for an annual televised extravaganza called the Hunger Games. It’s a bit like school sports day, only bloodier. The kids have to kill each other with an excruciating variety of sharp implements. The winner is the one who doesn’t end up with a spear through their neck — and all glory be to them. Or at least that’s what I learnt from The Hunger Games (2012). Now there’s a sequel, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which continues the story of the girl with a silly name, Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence), who won the Hunger Games last time around. But more importantly: I’m only one-and-a-half paragraphs into this review, and I’ve already written ‘Hunger Games’ five times. Hunger Games, Hunger Games, Hunger Games. This is what life must be like for those of you with children who have read the exorbitantly popular books behind these films. Mummy, can we go see The Hunger Games movie, pleeeeease? Daddy, did you know Katniss has become a symbol of hope to the oppressed people of Panem?

Lawrence, as always, is plain brilliant: here she manages to be both quiet and forcefully charismatic

The girl on fire, Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen

But the rest of us may need some time to catch up. So, yes: after the first film, Katniss has become a symbol of hope to the oppressed people of Panem. She and another corner of her love triangle, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), defied the system by almost committing suicide at the end of the last games.