Review 122: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a sequel that is firing on all cylinders and an excellent continuation of The Hunger Games story.

Based on the second novel in The Hunger Games Trilogy, Catching Fire, by Suzanna Collins, Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a "Victor's Tour' of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow (Donald Sutherland) prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) - a competition that could change Panem forever.

The plot is essentially a continuation of the themes introduced to us in The Hunger Games,  but it's also expands and introduces new ones such as survival, government control, rebellion, and interdependence vs. independence. Much of what made the first film so gripping was its portrayal of a dystopian future society which lacks any specific ideological character. Catching Fire takes this a step further because all the way through the film, the emphasis is much more on the Totalitarian state that is the Capitol and the individualy downtrodden Districts that are starting to rise up because Katniss is this symbol (their Mockingjay) behind which they are all starting to throw off the shackles of oppression.

 

The Love Triangle between Katniss, Gale and Peeta is also given some focus but it's very "sidelined" in comparrison to the larger conflict at hand; It's much the icing on the cake. Gale and Peeta represent different

Survival: As with the first movie, success in the arena relies on a mix of fighting and survival skill.

Government Control: The Capitol are already portrayed as bastards but in Catching Fire they exert even more control over the main characters such as President Snow threatning Katniss in her home in the Victors' Village in the opening of the film; Peacekeepers are placed in districts to squash any hope that the citizens started to have after the last Hunger Games in light of the uprisings inspired by Katniss' actions. The 75th annual Hunger Games have “new” rules that put Katniss and Peeta in danger once again, 

Rebellion: Even though she has enough food, Katniss continues to hunt so she's very much rebeling against eh Capitol's laws. The Capitol are afraid of Rebellion because

Interdependence vs. Independence: Katniss and Peeta are definitely interdependent. They are both helping each other to survive. As a matter of fact, they want the other one to survive more than they do themselves. They end up putting themselves in more danger because they are trying to help each other win in the arena. Not only are Katniss and Peeta interdependent of each other, they are also interdependent on the other tributes in the arena such as Johanna Mason (Jena Malone) and Finnick Odair (Sam Clafin). Haymitch and the sponsors who send gifts into the arena are helping them to survive.

Loyalty: Loyalty comes in various different forms in Catching Fire: Who should Katniss, Gale and Peeta be loyal to - each other, their families, their district or the Capitol?

The Capitol, on the other hand, expect ultimate loyalty because if a district citizen is not loyal then he or she can a brutal punishment or certain death. But as Katniss and Peeta find out, not everyone is loyal to the Capitol as they appear to be... 

All these themes coupled with intense plotting give Catching Fire a better sense of tone and scale than the first film. It also raises the stakes with Katniss having to please President Snow while at the same time telling a deeper, darker and more complex story.

With a runtime of 146 minutes, Catching Fire does drag occasionally during the Victors Tour which at times feels like a travelogue of the Capitol; nevertheless, Catching Fire never feels too long and the result is (like the first film) a vigerous and fast paced

Director Francis Lawrence's direction is smooth, the cinematography is terrific and captures the beauty of Panem and the lush, exotic look of the Quarter Quell arena.
The production design is excellent, the special effects are brilliant, the score by James Newton Howard is fantastic, the costumes are fabulous, the sound effects are tremendous, the action scenes are exiting, well choreographed and intensely shot, the scenery is breathtaking, the make up is rich and the ending was jaw dropping.

The acting is superb, Jennifer Lawrence really improved on her performance as a Katniss because she's becoming more mature as a character. Everything feels diffrent to her now because her relationships with Gale and Peeta are so different; There are things about her life that Gale doesn't understand when he use to understand everything and now there are things about her life that only Peeta understands. So now she has these two parralel lives with two different people

She feels for the people of Panem and has a lot of empathy for them. She wants them to know that they can fight but at the same if she doesn't lower the fire then she could loose her family and things could get worse. Lawrence makes us feel the weight of her situation through her

Josh Hutcherson I also thought improved on his performance, he too is under a lot of pressure to keep the romance between him and Katniss look genuine but at the same has genuine feelings for Katniss. We care for those two and hope in some way shape or form their relationship will turn out well. Whilst he and Katniss are on the Victory Tour, they have to put on this show and pretend that they're in love and that everything is ok when in reality it's really hard for him.

Liam Hemsworth is terrific again here playing Gale, his best friend relationship with Katniss is falling apart and he's saddened by that because she's come out of the arena a different person whom he doesn't recognise. He stands up for what he believes in and never gives into this greater evil.

Woody Harrelson is  playing Haymitch Abernathy

Newcomers to the series, Sam Clafin and Jena Malone are also very good in the film as Finnick Odair and Johanna Mason respectively.

Johanna Mason is a sarcastic and rebellious character. 6-7 years prior to the Quarter Quell, she won one the previous Hunger Games and at that time she was a young girl, so she's a girl whose had to be tough to survive and not only is she a fully fledged warrior, she's built up this platform from the Capitol of becoming this puppet for them. But because she's kinda unpredictable, the Capitol haven't been able to push her to all the places they would like, like they've been able to do with the other victors.

She's also disgusted at what Katniss is allowing the Capitol to play up which is a stark contrast to her as she didn't give them any of that in her heyday. But she's also smart underneath her rough exterior and she has a certain amount of respect for her because she's staring a rebellion and she's the leader weather she likes it or not and there's defiantly a mutual respect between them and throughout the film that balance between the disgust and the respect swing in the right way.

As for Finnick Odair, outwardly he seems like a bit of a cad, a bit of a fit, and very charismatic.

But as the film progresses, we learn that deep down, he has a deep emotional centre and proves himself to be a valuable ally Katniss who initially doesn't trust as she considers him shallow.

Finnick realises what he's setting out to do and has to befriend Katniss and earn her trust in order to help her achieve victory in the Quarter Quell. Clafin brought a likeable charm to the role and

Jeffrey Wright is also terrifically cast as Beetee. He's an older, wearier tribute whose somewhat fatigued with the idea of sending tributes into the arena as probably most of the characters are.
That to a large extent 

Philip Seymour Hoffman is also a simply brilliant as Plutarch Heavensbee. Plutarch is the new Head Gamekeeper and he's a very fascinating character because his allegiance is constantly being questioned by both Katniss herself and us as an audience. He's a master of propoganda 

Donald Sutherland continues to be a slimey bastard playing President Snow, in the light of Katniss' defiance at the end of the last Hunger Games

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a fiery sequel and a splendid lead up to the two-part adaptation of Mockingjay, 4/5.

The Anonymous Critic.