I suspended my beliefs at the door when I stepped into the theater to see Francis Lawrence’s (I Am Legend, Water For Elephants) sequel to The Hunger Games. I couldn’t do this for the first movie and was dissatisfied. I wanted the film to be more of a survival movie and less a fantasy/science fiction movie. When I wasn’t able to do that, I just started to question everything that was happening. I liked The Hunger Games but did not love it. I liked it enough to continue with the franchise, though. Every successful fantasy book franchise is being made into a movie these days. I have never read a word of a book or seen a second of the film in either the Harry Potter or Twilight series. I get the cult-like following to both of these movies, though. I do understand how you can be engrossed in a franchise like this. I have not read, nor will I read, any of The Hunger Game books, but I will continue to see the movies, even though I am upset about the franchise’s finale Mockingjay, split up into two movies. I am also lukewarm about the Insurgent franchise coming to the theaters. They showed a trailer for the first Insurgent movies before Catching Fire, and I was disappointed to see Kate Winslet on the screen. In these movies, you don’t need superstars outside the main character or two.
But back to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It was very, very good. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am not much of a fan of movies that make science fiction work when it is convenient for them. That was my main problem with the first movie. I wasn’t prepared for that aspect and was only fully able to overcome that feeling after watching the movie. At that point, I could look at it from a different perspective and understand where they were coming from. It is a fantasy movie before a survival movie, even though I wanted it to be a survival movie first. So as I went into the second movie, I knew what to expect, allowed myself to relax, and enjoyed the experience immensely.
The movie picks up shortly after the first movie ends. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook, Winter’s Bone) is in a field with Gale (Liam Hemsworth – Knowing, The Expendables 2) and has the first of many haunting flashbacks about the first games. She has visions of people she was close to getting killed and killing others. It is a theme that is present throughout the movie. Katniss is in a very dark place. Peeta (Josh Hutcherson – Red Dawn, The Kids Are All Right), the other winner of the first games, is too. What’s worse is the pair must fake a love story that only he wants to be true. Peeta is sad but understands that this is how it will be. Each time Katniss thinks it can’t get worse for her, it does. She symbolizes hope for the people, whether she wants to be.
Katniss is devastated when a young girl in one of the districts tells her that she will volunteer for games, just like Katniss did when she was older. The Capitol hates that she represents hope, especially President Snow (Donald Sutherland – Ordinary People, Space Cowboys). The whole idea of The Hunger Games is backfiring right before his eyes. He calls in new game maker Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman – Capote, The Savages) to rectify the situation. Heavensbee decides to throw a wrinkle into the game by having the 75th anniversary be a Quarter Quell in which the victors of each district of the past hunger games will be the only names eligible for the draw of this year’s games. Part of the reasoning is that Katniss is the only female winner from District 12, and she will inevitably be forced back into the game, this time against battle-tested opponents. Heavensbee believes that the districts will turn on her when she sees her killing other combatants, but that, ultimately, it won’t even matter because she will not be able to survive the game. This is how Katniss ends up back in the arena, where I will stop with the plot.
This script was well written. The performances were outstanding. There were handfuls of characters who were far more than meets the eye. When a movie has a single character you cannot tell is a good or bad guy, and you keep changing your mind about what you think, that is a success. It can be awesome to see when a movie can accomplish this with multiple characters (some of which are never even on the screen together throughout the film). The visuals were terrific. I know that the movie had a massive budget, and it appeared they took advantage of that. It very much feels like you are in the arena with these players. It’s awesome.
If you did not see the first Hunger Games movie, you will be disappointed and lost in this one. You also will not be happy with the ending. As a standalone movie, it could be better. Its whole point is to set up Mocking Jay, the series’s finale (which has already split into two different films). Most of the audience that saw The Hunger Games: Catching Fire did see The Hunger Games and planned on seeing Mocking Jay. I know I fall into that category. Still, the ending of this one leaves a lot to be desired. If there is a movie out there that should have continued credit rolling out at the end more than this one, I need to figure out what it is. The ending was also very, very rushed. You have this two-and-a-half-hour movie (which goes very quickly), which changes in the last 5-10 minutes. Making such a massive novel fit such a small time frame is very difficult, but the ending could have been more developed. But it doesn’t detract from the movie because I am now very excited about Mocking Jay.
See The Hunger Games: Catching Fire if you liked the first one. If you still need to, see the first one first. If you liked the first one, see the second one. If you were lukewarm on the first one, give the second one a chance. It’s a better overall movie.
Plot 9/10
Character Development 9/10
Character Chemistry 9/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 9/10
Directing 9/10 (potential for a 10, outside of the rushed and slightly ambiguous ending)
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 10/10
Universal Relevance 6/10 (I mean, it’s a fantasy movie that would never happen in our society…what else can you say here?)
91.5%
Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie
- The Hunger Games
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- Insurgent
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