Movie still publicity photo of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
Yes-we ran out on the movie’s opening day to see The Hunger Games:Catching Fire. I really enjoyed this second installment in The Hunger Games trilogy. As with any movie adaptation of a fairly long book, this movie left out many details from the book, but it really captured the essence of the novel.
Catching Fire picks up nearly one year after the unprecedented dual victory of Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) in the 74th Hunger Games. President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is displeased with the results of the games. The populace of Panem is chafing under the harsh rule of the Capitol. Snow visits Katniss is District 12 and orders her to act as if she and Peeta are truly in love. Since the people are rallying around Katniss and the mockingjay as a symbol of their rebellion, Snow wants to use Katniss to halt the rebellion before it really starts. He imposes harsher rule on the districts, including frequent public floggings to demonstrate his power.
To celebrate the upcoming 75th Hunger Games, the tributes are drawn not from the usual pool of young people, but from previous winners. This insures that Katniss will return as a contestant. Snow hopes that one of the other contestants will kill Katniss and solve his problems. Hah!
As the Hunger Games begin, Katniss and Peeta are allied with tributes from other districts. The obstacles they face are more treacherous than in the past, and many are really scary.
The acting and action sequences are really well done in this film. The special effects are good, and not over the top unbelievable. President Snow seems more evil than before. Of course it is distressing that The Hunger Games is only one of the many novels and movies which depict such a dystopian future for us. But that’s another issue! Now we have to wait one year the release of part one of the movie adaptation of the third book of the trilogy, Mockingjay. And then another year after that for the concluding film.
La Bibliofille 