Plot:

In most thriller films, the plot is centralised to a certain conflict with intense situations, grave consequences and emotional involvement. Several genres have these all of these characteristics, such as horror, action, adventure, fantasy and more. Sub-genres include gangster films, war films, crime films and zombie films. The main meat of a thriller film is often introduced in the first five to ten running minutes as the point of a thriller film is to be “thrilling” and to captivate the audience’s attention by introducing the film in an exciting opening sequence.

When thinking about the title sequence, good films will try to avoid giving too much of the plot away in the title sequence as it may spoil the viewer's experience as the movie will have become predictable since the movie failed to keep some plot points under wraps. Many would counter argue that the opening title sequence of the film should be used to give some sense of narrative to the audience as it may engage with them more. This is often the case for films based on someone's life or a true story, as exemplified by films such as Eddie The Eagle. This film's title sequences shows parts of the life of the main character, thus mirroring the developments the character needs to go through throughout the rest of the movie.

In recent years, film makers have come to realise how much money a film can make for them and their company and will churn out film after film. These films will contain overly recycled stories and clichéd characters who the audience doesn't care about. An example of this strategy in film making is the series of young adult films based on novels. These are film series such as the Hunger Games films, the Divergent films and the Maze Runner films. What these films have in common is that they abide by several overused conventions in young adult films, such as there may be a love triangle or other romantic subplot involved, a rebellion against an evil government, a teenage cast, female protagonists who's names end with "iss" (Katniss, Hunger Games) (Triss, Divergent), the list goes on. There is a reason they reuse these plots and other elements, and that is that they sell big and they work, especially with the case of the Hunger Games. The sequel, Hunger Games: Catching Fire, grossed $865,011,746 at the box office worldwide, a significant improvement over the original film which grossed $694,394,724 worldwide. Even though Mockingjay part 1 and 2 had their box office grosses decrease since Catching Fire and the reviews for the last two films have only been slightly above average, they were still massively profitable, both grossed around the $650,000,000 to $750,000,000 range. 

However, despite these impressive box office scores, personally, I feel that how a film does at the box office does not determine how good a movie is for me and that the best films are typically the ones that don't have a primary focus on making profit, resulting in great films with different ideas, new ways of doing things are more enjoyable to watch and is clear that their goal with making a film is ultimately to MAKE A GOOD FILM. After watching the Hunger Games films are severely lacking in creativity, having the first sequel (Catching Fire) be very much the same as the original film except with a heavier emphasis on the theme of rebellion. As for the last two films, the fact that it's split unnecessarily into two parts, suggests that they're drawn to make films for extra money.