The Hunger Games: Catching
Fire is the sequel to the 2010 book adaptation The Hunger Games. Yes I know you knew that, but what else do I
start with really? The Hunger Games
was a film that I did not see when it was released and only saw a few months
ago. To be honest my feelings on the film were mixed and being active on
Twitter I get very irritated by the whole fandom behind the series. (More on
that later).
The sequel takes place roughly one year after Katniss and
Peeta survived their first hunger games and they’re now living a lie,
pretending to be in love to justify their actions. Politics is taking place and
we are now seeing how the power of this world intends to deal with Katniss, who
has become a beacon of hope and freedom for the twelve districts. Some of the
returning cast include Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth,
Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland. Some new additions come
in the form of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Sam Claflin.
To start off with the acting of this film is overall good.
Jennifer Lawrence is one of the most talented young actresses working today and
does an excellent job as Katniss Everdeen. Liam Hemsworth is given more to do
this time round and he does well to make his character relevant to the story. My
two favourite characters however came from the newcomers: Philip Seymour Hoffman
and Sam Claflin. Finnick played by Claflin reminded me of a younger James
Franco and I enjoyed his performance and his character in general. Hoffman absolutely
owns every scene he’s in. The man’s a Best Actor Oscar winner and can take
anyone in this to acting school any day of the week. My only problem was with Josh
Hutcherson who never really does anything that notable, as he lets Jennifer
Lawrence carry him through most of his scenes.
I understand that it’s more of a criticism for the writing
team but it just seemed like none of the actors really has the opportunity to (I
quote) ‘lose their shit’ in a scene. And there’s really no reason why they
shouldn’t as the characters go through some tough times in this film. No-one
really gets too emotional or passionate and it’s a shame. I think there was
potential for a great monologue or emotional scene of some kind for a character
like Katniss or Peeta and they just never quite get it.
The pacing of this film was very strange. In some respect
before our main characters enter the hunger games there should be plenty of
character development and I get that. But there are scenes that go on for way
longer than necessary. I was also irritated by the fact that certain scenes or
points were cut short that should have been expanded upon. For example it is
made clear by Harrelson’s character that alliances need to be made in order for
Katniss and Peeta to survive. This was stressed hugely to our characters and
yet there is perhaps two scenes in which we see them actually doing something
about it. Those scenes would have been far more interesting and relevant than
some that were left in the film.
Francis Lawrence takes over from Gary Ross as director and his
whole approach to filming the action scenes is by far an improvement. Ross
constantly used shaky camera shots which totally failed in terms of creating
tension. All it did was irritate me as I couldn’t see what was going on. Lawrence
however films the action scenes more traditionally and it makes them much more
enjoyable. I have no issues with any part of the film regarding its overall
look because it is shot very well and the cinematography and occasional use of
CGI is fine. I did have problems with this film and (coming back to what I said
before about pacing) the film felt far too long. I have no problem with length
(heck man I’ll happily sit through The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition) as
long as it seems necessary and relevant, but by the end of this film I was just
left unsatisfied and sort of deflated.
Now listen all you Hunger
Games hipsters, before you start with your whole ‘oh you didn’t enjoy it
because you haven’t read the books’ I would like to put my word in. A film is
not a book. If you HAVE TO read the book that a film is adapted from to enjoy
it then it should not have been adapted in the first place. The film should be
an interpretation of the book and should change things if needed to fix pacing
or character development. I am a man who has not read the books, and I’m afraid
that I did not appreciate this film’s cliff hanger. A film this long needs to
feel somewhat conclusive otherwise it’s Pirates
of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
I will see the next two films but I’m afraid I found this
film to be an engorged mess. 6/10
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