Movie Review: Catching Fire

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 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