Pro/Con Review: The Hunger Games:Catching Fire

BY RACHEL CALLAHAN & SARAH SHARPE

Susan Collins’ The Hunger Games was a fantastic series, and because of many fans’ passion and love for the books, there was a fear that the movies had wouldn’t live up to expectations. The initial Hunger Games was cool, but it lacked action and had way too many of those typical “face shots.” Catching Fire, however, was fantastic. The film followed the book beautifully, had a great plot, and contained more sophisticated themes than the first movie, as well as better camera work. The acting was also phenomenal as Jennifer Lawrence was absolutely riveting, and, as always, stole the show.

The film begins with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) having returned home to District 12, safe and sound, 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 all twelve districts of Panem and ending in the Capitol. The Victor’s Tour was portrayed incredibly and each visit to the districts was well constructed, showing both the affluence of the capital and Katniss’ growing dismay.

The parts of the movie that took place inside the arena were truly spectacular; the scenery was amazing as shooting in Hawaii was a brilliant decision. In the first film the only real intense part was when the capital-mutts chased Katniss and Peeta.  However in this film there were terrifying baboons, poisonous fog, and Peeta’s heart even stops (briefly).

The ending made sense to me but it could have been confusing to those who hadn’t actually read the book. The cliffhanger ending created even more excitement for Mocking Jay, which hits theaters November 21, 2014.

Let me start off by saying that I didn’t read the Hunger Games Books. However, I found myself going to see the newest addition to the series Catching Fire for the same reason I went to see the Twilight saga: I wanted to see what all the hype was about. Although the first film kept its audience interested with its fast paced action, emotion, and gripping plot, Catching Fire was not anywhere near as enjoyable.

Even though Catching Fire featured strong actors, stunning scenery, and ornate costumes, the two and a half hour flick lacked the elements needed to make it a success. The movie picks up with the victors of The 74th Annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), embarking on their “Victor’s Tour”, a tradition where the victor(s) of The Hunger Games travel to every district in Panem and give speeches to the citizens of Panem. While the tour sequence beautifully captured Katniss’ fears and anxieties about becoming a victor, the tour seemed to drag by leaving little time for the much more exciting Hunger Games scenes.  In the first film, the scenes that flowed well took place in the arena, however Catching Fire felt choppy and awkward.

In The Hunger Games, many scenes almost moved its audience to tears: Katniss volunteering for her sister and Rue’s death, for example. In Catching Fire, I felt like I was supposed to feel sad when Mags (Lynn Cohen) sacrifices herself for Peeta or when Wiress (Amanda Plummer) is brutally murdered. However, again, because the “Victor’s Tour” was overly long, this left no time for character development of the new tributes. When tributes we’re brutally killed, audiences were unable to comprehend the danger or high stakes associated with their deaths

As a whole, Catching Fire was just average. With the intention of making movies out of a book series, directors have the freedom to leave cliffhangers. Still, each film needs to be able to stand on its own.

While Catching Fire was a noble attempt that broke box offices records as the best November debut of all time, ($161.1 million dollars on it’s opening weekend) the film still fell short. Hopefully, Mockingjay: Parts 1 & 2 have the power to redeem it.