The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The first The Hunger Games is a good movie, especially if we compare it with other adolescents franchises that came to theaters in recent years. At the end, the audience leaves the theater with a sense of curiosity about what was to come. However, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a much more exciting production. At the end of the second movie, the public is not only curious but also anxious to see what lies ahead. The end is breathtaking and the audience cannot wait to see the new sequel. If I had the choice, I would amend the almost two and a half hours with the Hunger Games - The Hope: Part 1 in one single session.

 After surviving the last edition of the games and saving Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) becomes a symbol of revolution against the Capital. President Snow (Donald Sutherland), however, decides to use the 'romance' between Peeta and Katniss to distract the population and, at the same time, shake the image of the young martyr. Unable to control the situation, Snow decides to make a new edition of the game with several former winners. The "couple" goes back to the arena, now having to face real killers .

Catching Fire has benefited greatly from the change of writers after the first film. The hiring of Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3 and Little Miss Sunshine) and Simon Beaufoy (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?) was fundamental in making an adventure into something more. The second feature is much more than "24 people in an arena trying to kill each other". While the first movie was basically an American version of the Japanese Battle Royale, the new one focuses on the political history and on building a climate for the coming revolution.


It is clear that the substance of the story is also from the author Suzanne Collins, but without good drivers many books were lost in this trip to the big screen. Director Francis Lawrence, who took over after the abandonment of Gary Ross, proved a wise choice. He had already gone reasonably in Constantine and I Am Legend, but here he performs his best work as director. Lawrence creates tension even outside the arena and leaves a mystery in the air of what will happen. The director does well in joining the action scenes  - which do not hide the violence of the environment - with other somewhat scenes of contemplation. Many are the times when we stopped to observe the beauty of the place, both in the forest next to the district in which all struggle to survive, and in games where the goal is to kill the person next to you and keep alive.



Far superior than the original film, as I said , leaving the feeling of "I want more", Hunger Games 2 is also successful in introducing new characters. The introduction of former winners of the games is done elegantly.

The film has everything to please the fans of Collins' books, but the best thing is that it is not a prerequisite to read the books to enjoy it (I have not read any of them). Who has not read a single line will also have plenty to entertain. And maybe even be willing to seek literary work, after all we are dealing with a complex and creative story.


Moreover, in Catching Fire, Jennifer Lawrence established herself as one of the biggest names in Hollywood today. The actress delivers a nothing but extraordinary character who suffers from serious dilemmas, such as trying to protect her family, saying in so many words that she has no time for love. Katniss is not the typical helpless woman who Hollywood cinema likes to produce and her preoccupation with Peeta, Gale and even people who she just met shows that she is the central figure of the story,  not because she is present in more lines of the script but by the actions she takes. 


Although it has some obvious moments and suffers to convince the viewer that the life of the protagonist is even in danger, Catching Fire meets its goals and still leaves several doors to be explored. The most interesting is that, although the story is divided into several "cores", the audience does not lose interest in any of them. The fact that the romance can be left a little aside, for example , only increases the uncertainty (and curiousioty) about what will happen next. And the same goes for the revolution and for the lives of several key characters. Moreover, it offers moments of genuine emotion, like when Katniss and Peeta honor the death of tributes from previous games. I just cannot wait for November to come.