The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

After two movies, I still find it hard to get into the world of The Hunger Games.  It's not so much that I find the movies bad, but rather, they are disappointments and never as big or as good as I feel they should be.  The millions of you who are fans of the books and the films should take heart, however - Catching Fire is definitely a better film than the first.  You're all but guaranteed to love it.  For all of this sequel's improvements (the action flows better, and the obnoxious shaky camera work is gone), I just find it hard to get excited about these characters.

And yet, I have a sneaking suspicion that the next two movies (already in production, and set to be released one year from now, and the year after) might interest me more, as the story seems to be building toward something very big.  That's actually the whole point of Catching Fire, to set up the big events that will happen.  It does indeed seem that the series heroine, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), is about to embark on something much larger than initially hinted at in the original film.  But, as the film opens, it's one year after the events in The Hunger Games, and we find that even though Katniss has become a celebrity after winning the Games, she is still haunted by her actions.  In an early scene, she attempts to hunt a wild turkey, and when she fires with her bow and arrow, she suddenly sees the turkey as one of the kids she was forced to kill in the last movie.  This grabbed my attention, as I figured the movie would attempt to create some internal conflict with the character, but unfortunately, it's not developed much further and deeper.

That's not to say she doesn't have any tangled emotions.  It seems that she's still in love with the handsome young Gale (Liam Hemsworth), but because of events in the first movie, she is being forced to act like she is in love with the equally handsome and young Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) from last year's Games.  The scheming President Snow (Donald Sutherland) even shows up at her house, explaining that if she does not play by his rules and put up a good show for the public as she makes the celebrity circuit rounds, he will harm her mother and precious younger sister, Prim (Willow Shields).  Katniss and Peeta are forced to travel to the different Districts, and make pre-written speeches supporting the President, the Games, and the system that is keeping so many living in poverty, while a select few get to live in lavish excess. 

The theme of the haves versus the have-nots is an important idea in this franchise, and I'm not really a fan of how it is represented.  It's far too black-and-white, with the poor District citizens looking like they've wandered in from a post-apocalyptic Charles Dickens story, while the wealthy few are depicted literally as pompous, live action cartoon characters.  That's really the only way the wealthy can be described in this series.  Their appearance and make up is so over the top, they look like cosplayers at a Sci-Fi convention than members of high society.  They have overly exaggerated faces and physical features, and generally behave like they're in a completely different movie - maybe a parody.  It creates a jarring contrast, as most of the film seems to be dark and very serious, while the scenes depicting the smug upper class is like something out of a live action cartoon adaptation.

As Katniss and Peeta make the rounds to the different Districts, they seem to inspire rebellion amongst the poor wherever they go.  Snow's stormtroopers try to keep them in line, but when that fails, the current mind behind the Hunger Games, Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), comes up with an idea to destroy Katniss' public image.  He sets things up so that this year's annual Hunger Games will be played by former winners, which means that both Katniss and Peeta will have to fight for their survival once again.  The Games themselves makes up a majority of the second half of the film, and while the action is definitely handled better by new director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend), I still find it hard to drum up a lot of emotion for the Games, or the people forced to play them.  Whenever someone becomes a victim to the deadly sport, it fails to resonate, because we once again know very little about who these people are.  Katniss is easy enough to root for, as she's strong and resourceful, but almost everybody else never gets to develop much of a personality or interest.

But my biggest problem with Catching Fire comes when information that has been kept from us the entire film is revealed in order to set up the events in the next two sequels.  Frankly, it doesn't make any sense to me that Katniss wouldn't be clued in to any of it.  The larger plan is kept from her, even though there was really no reason for it to be.  It was kept from her only so it can be a surprise to us, the audience.  This makes the cliffhanger (which I must admit, is pretty good) more forced and calculated than it should be.  It also seems very abrupt and out of the blue, with little lead in or explanation.  I'm sure the next movie will clear things up better, but for now, the whole reveal seems built around plot convenience, rather than the common sense of cluing the main character in sooner.

Of course, none of this will matter to the legions of fans.  Walking out of my screening, I heard a young girl groaning about how she'll have to wait a full year for the next movie.  I'm sure it will break all sorts of box office records this weekend.  I can admire the enthusiasm of the fans, but I just can't join them.  There are elements that I like, but they are overshadowed by plot elements or performances that just don't work for me.  I can admit to having interest in where the story may be going from here, but I just can't throw my full support behind this series so far, or this particular entry.  Consider myself on the fence for the moment, and depending where future entries go, I could be pushed either way in my opinion.

I would so far call The Hunger Games far above the Twilight films, while not quite reaching the heights of the better Harry Potter movies.  Even if I'm not completely sold on the franchise, at the very least, I do want to see where it goes.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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