The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Floro's Late To The Party Reviews - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

First off, yes. Yes, I inhaled the books shortly before it was the Twilight replacement for the tweenie demographic. And yes, I saw the first movie. I actually saw it on opening midnight, surrounded by the tweenie demographic up to their chaperone parents, with a large portion of the population in costume. No, I did not go with my hair in the trademarked braid. And yes, I enjoyed the first movie. I thought it was a very solid translation of a difficult book to represent in a PG-13 rating with a time limit. So I came into the second movie with high expectations. I was not disappointed.

Catching Fire as a book takes everything from The Hunger Games and runs it through an amplifier set to at least a volume of 8. The Hunger Games are an annual government run child murder-festival to remind everyone that the government is in charge. Two kids, one boy and one girl, are chosen at random from each district to compete in a winner-takes-all loser-is-dead nationally broadcast survival tournament. Like Survivor meets The Running Man (or Thunderdome). Our heroine, Katniss Everdeen survives in the first book ("spoiler?" I mean, there's a sequel and it's not Game of Thrones). Catching Fire kicks off following her surprise victory, and the repercussions of how she did it.

Mostly, you die though

As it turns out, the world is very class divided, moreso than what we see in the first installment. So is the reaction to how Katniss won her Hunger Games. Some saw it as an act of desperate love (it wasn't really). Some saw it as an act of public defiance against the evil Capitol (it wasn't really). Now, on the victory tour, Katniss has to pretend it was only love so people don't use her as a symbol to start a revolution. Problem is, she sucks as an actress, which leads to the evil President Snow concocting a plausible exception to put Katniss back into a special edition Hunger Games, against a bunch of previous fellow champion child-murderers. We basically have the first book, only now the whole world is at stake, and the competition is massively harder. It's everything you could want from a sequel, which is why I was really looking forward to the second movie.

I wasn't optimistic, but I was looking forward to it anyways

Now if you hadn't already been told, or seen an example of her talent for yourself, Jennifer Lawrence is the real deal. She single-handedly carries the entire fictional universe with ease, and is enough reason to watch the movie herself. She acts circles around nearly everyone else on screen, save for maybe Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket. Lawrence has to play a tomboy, PTSD suffering, love-triangle-having, instant celebrity teenager, who by the way is being blamed for inciting a revolution and may inadvertently be doing just that. She pulls you in and forces you through the same gamut of emotions and pressure.

Not pictured here: Emotions and Pressure (but that's the point in this scene)

No disrespect intended to the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman - he was appropriately cast as Plutarch Heavensbee, the new game-master. I was just underwhelmed by his performance. It was fairly subtle, as was his style, but he wasn't given much opportunity to shine, and he didn't do much with the times he was given. Elizabeth Banks is spot on again; relishing every minute of her role. Josh Hutcherson is serviceable as Peeta, but once again he doesn't bring anything to the role. It's hard to match up to Lawrence, and he doesn't take anything away from the movie, but he is equally replaceable. As is the other other Hemsworth brother, Liam who plays the third leg in the love triangle Gale. Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, and Lenny Kravitz all have their moments, but they are all wildly overshadowed by Lawrence.

The movie is well shot and directed by Francis Lawrence (no relation) and his crew. Lionsgate made the right decision to keep him on for the inevitable, 2-for-the-money finale movies. I can't speak to how much money Lionsgate and company are making off of having Jennifer Lawrence signed on to the whole series already. Considering she can basically do anything she wants for the next 5-10 years without question, having her on board is like getting Tom Brady on a rookie contract. You're going to win big, even if it's not everytime.

So how does the movie hold up as a translation of the book? Pretty well, actually! Again, considering the content (child murderers, ruthless dictatorship, violent uprisings) I'm impressed with what they got away with when keeping this in the demographic sweet spot PG-13 rating. You still feel every impactful moment from the book. The cuts to the extra details and background stay consistent from the first movie, and help the pace stay progressive. The casting is strong, and the established characters that continue to the big finale are well represented.

That all said, it is a lengthy movie clocking in at just under 2.5 hours. I could have cut it closer to 2, but I wouldn't have been happy about it. It definitely feels like a 3+ hour movie by the credits. Time well spent, but only if you're willing to invest it and the emotional wear and tear on top of it all.

Knowing what's coming, I really don't know how they're going to do the finale justice with a PG-13 rating. Suzanne Collins took the amp to 11 in Mockingjay, and in doing so wrote one of the most moving (and rather horrific) character deaths I've had the pleasure to read, and that's not the worst thing that happens. I'm betting they will pull a few of those punches, but I will be happy to pay for Lawrence's screen time to see just how it all comes together.

The books are a quick read, but they aren't easy. If you're reading this, you're likely outside the tweenie demographic, and can make your own choices about reading a crumbling distopian epic full of murder, turmoil, murder, politics conflicting with revolution, and dead kids. I am glad I read them. If you can handle the harsh fictional reality, and want to see some damn fine acting from at least one person, you should watch the movies.