10 Underrated Movies Everyone Loved At First (But Now Dislikes)

3. The Hunger Games

The Awesome Movie: The Hunger Games isn't the best movie in the franchise (that honour goes to Catching Fire), but it's certainly the most unique. Contrary to what you'd have expected from a big YA adaptation, Gary Ross went with an oppressive, shaky-cam shooting style and a stark visual design that made it more of a distinct genre picture than piggy-backers Divergent and The Maze Runner. This meant that, despite facing criticism for the unoriginality of its idea, the film made a mark.

More traditional YA elements are there - a cast of young rising stars in a love triangle mentored by bona fide greats - but the unorthodox visuals and a more unflinching, teen-oriented approach to violence (rather than making something overtly family friendly) made for a movie that didn't skimp on its dark backdrop.

What Happened? Ross didn't return for the sequels, replaced by Francis Lawrence, who went for a much more standardised approach, with wide CGI shots and a brighter sheen. The series maturity certainly remained, but the dirt under its nails was scrubbed. Not neceassrily a bad thing (as I said, Catching Fire is superior to the first film), it retroactively turned the final film into the franchise's odd-one-out and thus something that gets considered as an experimental piece.

The irony of all this is that the more polished approach to the later movies actually hurt them, with Mockingjay - Part 2 severely lacking what made the series start so competently in the first place.