THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE - Review

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Action/Adventure, 2013

2 hours, 26 minutes

Adapted from the book Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy and Michael deBruyn

Directed by Francis Lawrence

Rated PG-13 for "intense sequences of violence and action, some frightening images, thematic elements, a suggestive situation and language."

Starring

Jennifer Lawrence 

Josh Hutcherson

Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Woody Harrelson

Elizabeth Banks

Donald Sutherland

Stanley Tucci

Sam Claflin

Jeffrey Wright

Jena Malone

Amanda Plummer

Lenny Kravitz

"She has to be eliminated."

Taking a look at the trilogy of books, Catching Fire, the second in the series, is easily the best. While the series is ripe for a film adaptation, the first film was pretty good. Not amazing, but good. It was overall a cut-and-dry adaptation for the book, which isn't really a bad thing. There were a few emotional moments that felt rushed, despite being better told in the book. But overall, it was good. 

Catching Fire is without question better in pretty much every way. The story is better and far more interesting. It's an excellent sequel that ultimately leads to something far greater, even if that something far greater isn't that great at all (I fucking hated the third book). And I'm not just talking about the book, but the movie as well. It manages to keep you on your toes, and the story is well woven with a wide range of interesting characters to keep you on your toes. 

The story picks up after the first. JLaw and Pita have to go on this victory tour thing, but Jack Bauer's dad has other things in mind. He needs JLaw to stop causing a ruckus (aka a rebellion) in the other districts. Eventually, a bunch of shit goes down. Basically, they wind back up in the arena. Again. Because Jack Bauer's dad is trying to kill them. For reasons. But this time they at least have Aquaman on their side, so that's cool.  

Much like the book, the story is split almost directly in half. The first half is buildup. The second half is arena shit. And if you read the book, the arena shit is pretty much exactly what you'd expect it to be. Except there's a lot less shaky camera. I was shocked at how good of a job they did in recreating the games. It was pretty much identical to how I imaged it. Even the look of the arena was identical to what I pictured. So that was pretty cool.

The performances are pretty much the same as they were in the first, except it seems like JLaw is kind of a crybaby. I mean I get that tons of shit is going down, but she cries a LOT. Jack Bauer's dad is great as well. The best addition to the cast by far is Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who is one of my favorite actors ever. He doesn't do a lot, but he steals every scene that he's in. 

One of my favorite things that they got right over the first one is the camerawork. Remember how you can't see shit because of all the damned shaky cam in the first one? There's a little shaky cam, but at least this time you can see fights. It's not nearly as absurd as it was in the first one.

Catching Fire, much like the book, is just better than the first one overall. It's long run time goes by pretty quickly, thank God. But yeah, if you liked the first one then you'll love this one. Not just because it's a better story, but because it's just a better movie overall. It's unfortunate that they're doing the unnecessary splitting up of the third book. It's not that good. Ugh. 

Also, Stanley Tucci's teeth are disturbingly white. Weird thing to thing to note, but let's be real, we're all thinking it.

9.3/10