I remember the first time I heard about The Hunger Games. It was described to me as a 24 person death match with children in an arena made to kill them. It's not a premise you'd expect to see in mainstream cinema, especially one aimed at teens and families. I hadn't a clue how that would work as a franchise.
Well 2 films in I can safely say I'm very happy The Hunger Games franchise exists. The story of rebellion flows smoothly into Catching Fire and picks up almost right where we left Katniss and Peeta at the end of the first movie. There's no signs of weak sequel syndrome here. Catching Fire is every bit as good as the first film.
I'll try to keep the review as spoiler free as I can for the series in general but as always a lot is given away by the trailers. The film starts with us seeing Katniss and Peeta struggle to deal with life after the games and also highlights how the world they live in is changing. The 'Victory Tour' they go on is a genius mechanic to reintroduce us into the world of the Hunger Games and recap everything that's happened before. Whereas the first film had quite a slow start Catching Fire is far more interesting in the way it sets up the story.
President Snow, the kind of 'man behind it all' figure, is understandably a little pissed off about the whole possible rebellion thing so in a harsh move makes Katniss and Peeta fight in the games again with past winning tributes. I was a bit put off by the whole 'it's the Hunger Games- AGAIN!' premise initially but it's quite different this time. It does feel a bit samey in parts; getting chased round the jungle, fighting other tributes etc. But there is something a little deeper going on this time. Something I'm not going to spoil for you.
The atmosphere of Catching Fire is fantastic. Moments of total silence lead to dialogue that really pierces the air. The villains in the capital feel as foreboding as ever and the tributes that want to rebel deliver speeches that are powerful and effective. I found myself really backing what Katniss and Peeta are fighting towards and wanted to see the whole system taken down.
The overall bleak tone of the film is done well with the colour scheme being very grey and gloomy in the lower districts and the film's score matching it perfectly. It shows what a horrible world they're living in and what the tributes are going through.
The games themselves are as exciting and action packed as ever. It doesn't feel as fresh and there's the lack of chaos present from the first film but their struggle to stay alive is still gripping. It's not so much tributes vs tributes this time as it is The Capitol vs tributes (vs some other arsey tributes I suppose). I personally could have gone for more fighting between tributes but it is still present at least and the huge set pieces and chases they face from their environment make up for it.
The main negative is that the film doesn't have a grand finale as such and doesn't have the satisfying ending you'd hope for. You're left wanting more and to see the story continue further which to be fair isn't a bad thing. It shows that the film has had you totally invested in it for the past 2 and a bit hours. It's by no means a disappointing ending, it's still pretty spectacular, but it's certainly surprising and doesn't wrap everything up nicely. We all know there's a third movie being made- you could say the ending of Catching Fire is the bridge leading into it.
A strong story that loses none of the first movie's good points, Catching Fire is a fantastic continuation of The Hunger Games series. It may still be a little early, but Christmas definitely has it's first major blockbuster.
9/10
published 4.15am 21/11/13
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