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Sunday, December 8, 2013

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (2013)

For every popular film franchise, there's another that just doesn't quite live up to par, so say the respective fans of each. You can't have good without evil, up without down, "Star Wars" without "Star Trek", and now that 2013 comes to a close "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" proves to us that the very woodenly named "Twilight Saga" is the poor man's equivalent to Katniss and her band of would be revolutionaries.

The story picks up not long after the events of the first film. Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) and Katniss Everdeen (The ever-versatile Jennifer Lawrence) are trying to live their lives as winner's of the previous year's Hunger Games in which one contestant from a respective district competes in a "fight-to-the-death" style battle. They must go on a tour to each of the districts in what I assume is their country in their weird Orwellian universe the characters inhabit. However, President Snow (played by a subtly evil Donald Sutherland), the white bearded malicious Santa impersonator  visits Katniss to tell her that he was not fooled by the false romance between she and Peeta at the end of the first film and that her actions have give the oppressed residents of the poorer districts hope - which could lead to a rebellion and eventual overthrow of the government. As a means of destroying Katniss, the new games mark an event happening every 25 years in which previous winners of the games will once again be pitted against each other. These events occur just as Peeta and Katniss attempt to fool the world that their romance is not false and trouble is brewing within the people.

From the left: Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen

It was obvious to me that the film's writers (Simon Beaufoy and rejected writer for the new "Star Wars" picture Michael Arndt) looked at what are widely regarded as the best sequels of all time and drew plot elements from them. For that reason, I consider this to be a Frankenstein style sequel with the body and limbs of "The Empire Strikes Back" (a rebellion and hope for toppling an oppressive government and an Emperor like and Darth Vader - type figures), the mind of "The Dark Knight" (a much darker tone than its previous film and also showing that people are not always who they appear to be), head of Terminator 2 (all stakes are higher and characters who we thought we knew aren't exactly what they seemed), love triangle of "Spider-Man 2", and the control room of "Westworld."

Jennifer Lawrence really gets to shine in this film being the most sincere female lead in any blockbuster this year. However, at times, I couldn't help but wonder who else would be a great Katniss. The casting was not perfect and Lawrence is not the only actress who would've been great in this role, but her second time around gives her much more to do and to have fun with. Phillip Seymour Hoffman also appears in this film as Plutach Heavensbee, the new planner behind the games and he is laughably dry in the role. Never once does Hoffman wipe the "I'm an asshole" smile off of his face, which frankly, was hilarious every time his mug would come on screen.

Katniss plans her first movie against her competitors at the start of the competition.

Perhaps the biggest stroke of excellence with the film though, is the addition of Francis Lawrence at the helm. As I mentioned above, the action is far more exciting and nail biting this time around. A great example is when Katniss is dropped into the arena for the start of the games and she must swim to the bow in arrow, her weapon of choice, located in a weapons bank before the others can get theirs and do some serious damage to each other. When she is dropped into the arena, the focus to me was more on her and Peeta's survival  where as in the first film it was more of a focus on the spectacle of kids killing other kids. The sequence involving a deadly poison gas cloud was great fun as well. When the first film was released last year, I felt extremely indifferent towards it. I didn't think it was bad, but I didn't think it was very good either. The movie had a very boring pace and attitude about it that treated its subject matter with far too much seriousness. Here, the action is more intense, the drama is heightened, and the film is over all darker than its predecessor. At times, the movie was a little too much like "The Empire Strikes Back" for its rebellion story line and overall darker tone.

The biggest weakness however comes at the beginning of the film during the first act. To me, it wasn't interesting at all and suffered from dull dialogue, soupy dialogue about being in love from Hutcherson, and more dumb dialogue from Jennifer Lawrence after the first stop on the Katniss & Peeta victory tour goes very wrong and the overall pace was non-existent, feeling like the story was crawling along as opposed to racing toward an implied conflict between the people and their government as President Snow had feared.

Although not the best sequel ever made or most remarkable film out this year, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" took many risks that paid off. A new director, batch of characters, and appeal to a wider audience have made the film not only appealing to fans of Suzanne Collins' novel, but the uninitiated as well. Jennifer Lawrence is finally "growing into her shoes" as Katniss and the supporting cast is much more likable this time around, strangely. Woody Harrelson is charming and Elizabeth Banks is bubbly. If the second movie is this much of a leap and bound better than the first, I cant wait to see what will be in store for "Mockingjay."

7/10




Rated PG-13
Directed by Francis Lawrence
Written by Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt
Based on the novel by Suzanne Collins
Runtime - 146 minutes
8.2 of 10 stars on IMDb
89% on Rotten Tomatoes

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