Okay, so I started this blog after seeing the original Hunger Games, and my position on the story has drastically changed now that I read the three books (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay). In the interest of fair and unbiased reporting, when I saw the first Hunger Games, I had just started reading the books and was forming a mostly uninformed and negative opinion toward them. I thought the concept was horrible and bought into the whole outraged hullabaloo. After reading them, I came to realize the story is a good, albeit somewhat predictable yarn. The first movie was fine and I thought a fairly good representation of the source material.
Catching Fire takes up just after where The Hunger Games left off. Our hero, Katniss Everdeen, played by last year's Best Actress Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence, is dealing with the guilt of having had to kill several people as the co-winner of the previous Hunger Games, as well as her conflicting emotions between her co-winner Peeta and her true love Gale. Katniss gets an unexpected visit by the President, Donald Sutherland, exuding menace from every pore, who tells her that she has become a distraction for the oppressed masses with her on-screen romance. He tells her to keep it up and be convincing. At the same time, revolt is beginning to brew throughout the Districts, and Katniss has become a symbol of hope for them. The President is trying to co-opt her as a symbol for the government as she and Peeta take a victory tour through the 12 Districts. As the tour progresses, they see more and more examples of the government's brutal crackdown. With each atrocity, more and more signs of open rebellion begin to surface. The President realizes his strategy is not working, so a new Hunger Games is called. Every 25 years there is a special twist in the games called the Quarter Quell. This year being the 75th anniversary, the twist is all the participants will be chosen from previous winners. Of course, Katniss and Peeta get chosen to represent District 12. I won't say much more lest I spoil some twists for those of you who haven't read the story. Needless to say, it's going to be a long year until Mockingjay is released.
So, let's start with the good. The direction of the film is MUCH improved. The last director, for some unknown reason, was fond of the hand-held, shaky vomit-com, so popular with subpar directors today who are edgy wannabes. I was a little worried going in that I would be literally sick from the constant camera motion the last movie had. Thank goodness we have a much more competent director at the helm. The production design is fantastic. The costumes, the pageantry of the capital. This is a movie that screams Oscars all around for makeup, costuming and cinematography. A quick note on Stanley Tucci, the emcee and color commentator for the Games. Like Richard Dawson in The Running Man, he steals every scene he is in with his smarmy, Showbiz artifice. He is obviously having fun mugging for the camera at every step, and it is a lot of fun to watch. For an actor who is generally very subtle in his performances, he is a joy to see as the face of the bad guys. Plus, I marveled at just how white his teeth were, almost like a predator ready to eat whomever he is interviewing. Jennifer Lawrence has gotten much more confident with her acting. This movie is all her, and it's success in touching us rests on her shoulders, and she carries it off beautifully.
However, since I didn't give Catching Fire four stars, I obviously don't think it's perfect. I broke my own rule again and read the books before I saw this movie. The books are fairly good, but not particularly unique. They come from a great line of stories that question the role of entertainment and its tranquilizing effect on people, as every dictator knows. From The Lottery, to Stepheb King's The Long Walk and subsequent movie The Running Man, to the very twisted manga and movie Battle Royale from which The Hunger Games bears the most resemblance, there have been several exposés on this matter. Unfortunately, even with 2.5 hours, the movie doesn't capture the subtle nuances that happen in the book. This is an unfortunate casualty to the necessary condensation to movie adaptation. That said, the movie spends way too much time on the buildup to rebellion, and reveals the plan at the end, almost as an anticlimactic afterthought. There is a lot going on in this new Game that will have great impact on the next chapter, Mockingjay, and it left that setup a little flat. Motivations are unknown, twists are not revealed. It could be because they want to show the movie from Katniss' point of view as much as possible, but I don't think so as the script doesn't seem all that clever. I found it disappointing because this is a very good story. But in the end, I really liked it and am anxiously awaiting the next film with bated breath.
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