The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Review

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.