4/5 – Exciting sequel to the first Hunger Games, that captures the spirit of the source material very well.

As the release date for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire approached, I noticed I did not have any signs of having caught Catching Fire fever. I’d see the posters in the subway and on billboards around New York City, but they barely registered, which is weird, because out of the three Hunger Games books, Catching Fire is easily my favorite

I think my lack of excitement can be blamed on two things, the first of which is the poster for Catching Fire. It just looks too much like it could be a poster for the first Hunger Games movie. It’s not just evocative of the first film, it looks like it could be a poster for either film. I get that there are a lot of similarities between the two movies, the biggest being that Katniss and Peeta head back into the Hunger Games arena, but modeling your poster to remind me exactly of a movie I already saw a couple of years ago? At least give me something new! Or else subconsciously I’m going to just think it’s the same movie I already saw.

Side by side comparison of the Catching Fire and Hunger Games posters.

The other source of blame for my lack of excitement was the first Hunger Games movie itself. Don’t get me wrong; I liked the first Hunger Games movie. But it was good, not great, and definitely did not live up to the awesomeness of the book. I get that capturing the magic that made something awesome when you’re adapting it to another medium can be tricky, and changes have to be made. But if the posters for Catching Fire are making me think I’m watching Hunger Games a second time through, then the original Hunger Games movie had to have been amazing for me to get excited for the new movie.

Thankfully, Catching Fire is excellent. It is definitely a step up from the first Hunger Games movie. I felt that the pacing  was much better in this movie. The balance between time outside the arena and time spent in the arena, which the first film seemed to have problems reconciling, is handled very well here.

The casting for the new characters was excellent. Finnick is my absolute favorite character in the entire Hunger Games trilogy. It was Finnick who convinced me that Aquaman could be cool. Sam Caflin captures Finnick’s “brash yet really a sweet and damaged guy underneath” attitude perfectly. I’m looking forward to him giving us more Finnick in the next movie.

“Dude! What does mine say?”

Jeffrey Wright was very good in the role of Beetee. He definitely has the role of the loopy science person down. But what else would you expect from “quite possibly the the most underrated and underexposed actor of his caliber and generation.” The man has an “undeniable talent and ability to successfully bring to life any role he undertakes is on a par with the most praised and revered A-list actors in the business.” Those quotes were taken from Wright’s own IMDB page. No joke. Check it out. 

Let’s not forget the Tooch! Stanley Tucci’s Caesar Flickerman was the highlight of the first movie for me. The Tooch delivers again in Catching Fire, making Flickerman an outstanding satire of the talking heads hosting and commentating on current prime time television. Casting directors: every movie can benefit from more Stanley Tucci.

“Ryan Seacrest ain’t got shit on me!

You know where Catching Fire really succeeded? It really succeeded at getting me excited for the movie version of Mockingjay. That’s no small feat, as Mockingjay is my least favorite book in the Hunger Games series. I’m hoping that the screenwriter and director work on making Katniss more proactive in the plot of Mockingjay. In the book, so much seems to happen around her, or while she’s sleeping. I’d like to see her be more proactive in the third film than she is in the third book. Catching Fire is an excellent adaptation to film. Hopefully Mockingjay will be also.