20 Sequels That Brilliantly Fixed Past Mistakes

2012's The Hunger Games is a genuinely superb film, and by far one of the best YA-novel adaptations of all time. Shockingly, the 2013 sequel, Catching Fire, cleared that high bar and was even more kick-ass. Why? Because it solved the biggest problem with the first movie: that awful shaky-cam.

In order to ensure a PG-13 rating, The Hunger Games' director Gary Ross resorted to headache-inducing shaky-cam cinematography that obscured the violence but also distorted pretty much everything else, making it hard to tell what on earth was going on. In particular, the initial skirmish that starts the games off still looks absolutely dreadful even now. 

Francis Lawrence took over directing duties for Catching Fire, and his smooth, immersive directing was a massive step up. He was able to successfully convey the brutality of the combat without making the violence overly explicit, and it's no surprise that he's been invited back to direct every single Hunger Games movie since. As Lawrence proved here, a PG-13 rating doesn't have to be a hindrance, and Catching Fire might just be the best YA-novel adaptation of them all.