The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (***½)

Directed by: Francis Lawrence

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Amanda Plummer, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Toby Jones, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone

Seen: November 22^nd 2013

***½ Out of ****

When I heard about the movies for the Hunger Games coming, and that the books themselves are pretty good, I read them all before getting to the movies. I was glad I did, since the first movie required knowledge only available in the book to fully appreciate it and to fully get the whole story. It was still entertaining, but I believe the book was almost required reading for the movie. This is not the case at all for Catching Fire though, as it brilliantly relays the story in a way that is almost unbelievably complete, and in such a spectacular fashion that I was swept away in the story and frustrated that it had to end when it did.

Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson) are recovering from the trauma of the 74^th Annual Hunger Games in their district and on the road on their victory tour. A rebellion starts to rise as a direct result of her and Peeta’s “on-screen” revolt to win the 74^th Hunger Games. President Snow (Sutherland) wants to suppress this rebellion by forcing Katniss to be his puppet in public, not the symbol she is starting to become – and she must convince him to try to save her family and friends. Snow has a devious trick up his sleeve though, and for the Quarter Quell, the 75^th Annual Hunger Games, he decides that the tributes – or participants – will be selected from previous victors, assuring Katniss’ participation, as she is the only female victor from District 12. Peeta ends up being the other contestant and the two head to the excessively opulent Capitol again, once more accompanied by Effie Trinket (Banks) and Haymitch Abernathy (Harrelson). They meet all the tributes, and have to attempt making allies before being thrown back into the fray again. The arena is stunningly recreated from the novel, and the threats within the arena translate to the screen with ease and the intended menace. Katniss is however relatively blind to larger movements among the tributes, but it all becomes crystal clear as the games progress, and Katniss is definitely not prepared for what follows…

Catching Fire is a massive improvement over the first movie in every way. Jennifer Lawrence is much more comfortable in the role of Katniss, and so is every single returning cast member. The movie is beautiful and menacing in equal part, and the story is told with much more sure-footed certainty. The movie is over two hours long, but it never feels that long – you’re completely immersed in the trials and tribulations of everyone, especially Katniss. The perfect set of great story elements are enhanced for the movie and the perfect set of alternate story elements are either removed, given only lip-service, or are briefly introduced before moving on. I can absolutely not wait for the final book, to be delivered in two movie instalments, scheduled for release on 21 November 2014 and 20 November 2015. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, is an excellent movie which lifts the series to an entirely new level. I loved it.