May the odds be ever in your favor in Catching Fire
Photo Credit: Lionsgate Films
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
A
A review by Frederick Cholowski
The duty of a second
film in a franchise is often times the toughest to conceive. Usually the filmmakers
must both bridge the gap between the first and the next film in the franchise,
but it also must be a satisfying film on its own right. The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire, the latest in the wildly successful Hunger Games franchise, does
both with a great deal of success, while managing to improve on the first film
in every way. Catching Fire enters the realm of the great sequel as it’s a film
that goes, deeper, darker, and ultimately better than the film it follows.
Catching Fire opens
only a little bit after The Hunger Games with our Hero Katniss Everdeen
(Jennifer Lawrence) having a serious case of PTSD after the completion of The
Hunger Games. She’s also unwillingly caught into a political game of cat and
mouse with the dictator President Snow (Donald Sutherland), who fears that she
will ultimately cause an uprising that will bring him down and his ultimate
reign down with him. The real challenge begins when Katniss and her fellow victor
and for show boyfriend Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) have to go tour the districts,
as it brings out the fear in Katniss as she sees what her win has ultimately
caused. Things are made worse when in an effort to control the potential
uprising President Snow and newly appointed gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee
(Phillip Seymour Hoffman) announce that for the seventy fifth anniversary of
the Hunger Games that they are going to change up the formula by making the new
tributes that enter the arena former victors, in the vein of a “Hunger Games:
All Stars.” This forces Katniss and Peeta back into the games one more time
with the odds not so much in their favor.
Catching Fire takes
the premise of The Hunger Games and deepens and darkens it. The first place it
starts is with the characters, as every character gets to go to much more
interesting places all around, especially our protagonist Katniss. Katniss gets
much needed additional character development due to the PTSD that she’s acquired.
Catching Fire does a good job at showing the pain and suffering that Katniss
experiences from having to kill so many people just to stay alive herself, and
thus also manages to make all the deaths in the first film feel more real and
less like red coats as they were presented in the last film. Also getting some
much needed development are the characters around Katniss. Peeta and Katniss’
best friend and sometimes lover Gale (Liam Hemsworth) no longer feel like two
hunky caricatures vying for her attention, but instead come closer to feeling
like real characters each with their own agenda and set of values. It’s also
great to see development in regards to President Snow and Katniss and Peeta’s mentor
Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) who helps make the world around Katniss and Peeta
much more interesting then at face value.
This also allows for
the cast to explore better territory. As great as Jennifer Lawrence was in The
Hunger Games she is ten times better here as the material she is given is so
much better. We ultimately get to see Lawrence at her full potential here (it’s
not like we haven’t gotten to see this before in her smaller and more acclaimed
roles but she didn’t quite get the material in The Hunger Games) and as usual
she manages to pull it off brilliantly. The power she is able to deliver
without even uttering words is often brilliant and emotional. Sadly even if
they are given better things to it’s still hard to find both Liam Hemsworth and
Josh Hutcherson anything more than passable or above average as they don’t have
the range or ability of most of the rest of the cast. Sutherland gets to be big
and evil which is always fun to watch and he gets much more to do in this one.
Harrelson is fun as usual adding a splash of humor and energy into the film.
Heck even Elizabeth Banks gets something to do in this one as the not so
shallow as she seemed Eve Trinket.
Also surrounding them is an all star line up of character actor newcomers. Phillip Seymour
Hoffman is the biggest name of the newcomers, and surprisingly isn’t phoning it
in at all. For the limited role he’s given he plays it fantastically, always
managing to be a commanding presence whenever he’s on the screen. The other character actors are to be found in
the form of all star tributes Jena Malone, Jeffery Wright, and Sam Clafin who
are all great here. Also, special shout out to Patrick St. Esprit who is
commanding and freighting as a hardcore peacekeeper general found briefly at
the beginning of the film.
Another part of
Catching Fire that is improved in every way is the direction and
cinematography. As much as Gary Ross is a very good director, he isn’t often
associated as a visual or action director and it showed at times in the Hunger
Games as the direction at times took away from the action and world building.
Francis Lawrence, while not having all that impressive of a resume to date
(which is mostly the problem with the scripts he films and not the direction
itself mind you) knows how to be a visual director and it shows here. The world
of the Capitol and the districts give off more of a sense of atmosphere and are
much more clearly depicted as a result. Also the action isn’t all shaky cam
this time allowing for some more fluid and impressive action set pieces than in
the first film. The actual Hunger Games part of the film is also shot in
digital IMAX which does enhance the action a little bit, but as a minor
complaint does not fill the screen entirely like if it was shot with IMAX film.
Finally the most
impressive improvement to Catching Fire as a whole is the political intrigue that
is able to develop due to both the development in visuals and character. The
inner workings of the game that is the capital are fascinating and watching the
cat and mouse game between Snow and Katniss play out is the single best part of
the film. They play there moves like a well played game of chess and it often
makes certain situations much more interesting and complex then they appear at
first. As a result the actual Hunger Games action part of the film feels a
little bit less interesting, but it’s a small complaint as they still manage to
hold their own quite well and despite being slightly less involving.
The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire is the rare sequel that improves on the original in every way.
The film grows deeper and darker, allowing for the characters, world, and
political message of the film to grow immensely making the experience as a
whole, much more interesting. The film’s two and a half running time is a
breeze of tension and political intrigue that manages to feel almost nothing
like an adaptation of a young adult novel (well except for the love triangle
thing). The Hunger Games: Catching Fire flames on to becoming a huge surprise
and one of the best films of the year.
