Summary:
Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem. (Via www.imdb.com)
Running Time: 146 minutes (2 hours and 26 minutes)
Release Date: November 22nd, 2013
Rating: 5/5 stars
Review:
I don't know why, but I never published this review of Catching Fire. I had always intended to publish it but it has been sitting in my drafts for over a year. So, in the spirit of Mockingjay Part 1 being released, I finally decided to publish this review....
I don't know why, but I never published this review of Catching Fire. I had always intended to publish it but it has been sitting in my drafts for over a year. So, in the spirit of Mockingjay Part 1 being released, I finally decided to publish this review....
I had no idea what to expect from Catching Fire. The
Hunger Games was a great movie, but the director and screenwriter
were changed in between the production of the two movies, which could cause dramatic
changes. But, I had nothing to worry about. After seeing Catching Fire I
was blown away, the movie was so accurate to the book. I can easily say, Catching
Fire is officially my favorite book-to-movie adaptation.
*Spoiler Section*
The cast was amazing, all the actors/actresses embodied their
characters perfectly. I was so relieved that Finnick Odair (played by Sam
Clafin), and Johanna Mason (played by Jena Malone) were finally introduced,
because they are two of my favorite characters.
Prior to seeing Catching Fire, I had not reread the book. Shockingly, throughout the movie I remembered almost
everything from the book. The movie really helped refresh my memory. For
example, I had not remembered that Peeta made a baby announcement during his
interview with Caesar. The most shocking thing I forgot was that District 12
got bombed, I don’t know how I forgot about it.
The movie was fantastic, but there were two
minor things I wish they would have included. Once they entered the arena, Peeta
and Katniss seemed to forget that she was ‘pregnant’, which I found a bit odd.
Also, I wish District 13 would have been mentioned earlier on in the movie. Not
only at the end we had to come to terms with the bombing of District 12 but we
had to wrap our heads around the fact that there were thirteen Districts
instead of twelve. It would have been nicer if they had mentioned a thirteenth
District earlier on so it would not have been such a shock. In the book, Gale and Katniss met Bonnie and Twill while hunting and they were the ones
to introduce the readers to District 13. The only major problem I had with the
movie was the love triangle, it’s not needed.
I loved the design of the arena, it seemed as if they pulled it right
from the book. It was so
neat when the camera would zoom out and you could see the arena from
the top and how it was positioned like a clock. The special
effects in each section of the clock were also fantastic. The blood rain,
jabber-jays, vicious monkeys, huge waves, and the lightning tree, were so
realistic. When Finnick and Katniss both went into the jabber-jay section, my
heart fell. Reading about the event and seeing it are two completely different
things. The movie version was so intense and heart wrenching.
I was so excited when Johanna said,
"They can't hurt me. I'm not like the rest of you. There's no one left I
love." As depressing as the quote is, it is one of my favorite quotes from the
trilogy and I was so happy that it was included in the movie. We don’t learn
much about Johanna’s past but that quote sums up what has happened to her.
Speaking of which, there were quite a bit of quotes from the book included in the
movie, which I thought was great. Not all of them were word for word from the
book, but they had the same basic understanding. I really felt like I was
watching the book in the movie theater. I am really glad the screenwriters took
the time to really go over the book and bring it to life, it meant a lot. For
example, I loved that the Peeta and Katniss conversation of their favorite colors
was included in the movie because they have another conversation about it in Mockingjay. Since they included the
original conversation in Catching Fire,
I hope they include the second one in Mockingjay
Part 2. Also, I thought it was so sweet that Finnick’s goodbye to 'his
love' was included. It really seemed as if the speech was directed to anyone he
slept with or charmed. But the speech was actually directed toward Annie, and I
thought it was a cute, yet sad touch.
I was really curious to see how they were going to end the movie
because the book ends on a major cliff hanger. I was not sure if they would
stick with that ending or tweak it. I was glad the movie had the same ending as
the book because it left everyone in the dark. Movie goers should have to
suffer what the readers had to go through until the next book. After the movie
was over, my parents had told me that they wished I would have taken them to
see Catching Fire after
all the other movies were released because they did not want to wait a
year to find out what happened next.
Overall, Catching Fire was action packed, adventurous, and it
kept me on the edge of my seat, even though I knew what was going to happen. It
was an amazing adaptation to the book and I am so excited to see Mockingjay
Part 1 when it flies
into theaters on November 21st of 2014.
~Casey
