The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) - Part 1

[craigdbfan]

The same as Catching fire.

A lot of it probably had to do with me going in thinking the first Hunger Games was going to be a bit of a Battle Royale rehash. Which in certain regards does borrow elements (whether intentional or not) but it never came across as a flagrant copy.

It offered a lot of political and social depth in its metaphors and allegories and the performance from Lawrence as I said in my previous post was absolutely mesmerizing. She added a certain allure that not many young actresses could have done in this day in age.

Although something funny that immediately reminded me of the first Battle Royale in Catching Fire was the whole "timed" events within the map/games. They had a similar aspect to the games in the first Battle Royale film. To the Hunger Games credit I now honestly believe it has executed its message far better than Battle Royale ever did and that's coming from someone who loves that movie but if I put my nostalgia aside I can easily tell the Hunger Game adaptions convey its messages far more effectively than BR ever did.

 

[SuperJediHero]

For me, 8.5-9 for the 1st. 10 for the 2nd.


It's clear to me, that EVERYTHING especially Jennifer Lawrence's performance is BETTER in Catching Fire.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

What was wrong in her performance in the first movie?
I don't see what the heck is good acting, but I'm curious

 

[DA_Champion]

I thought she nailed both movies.

 

[lime]

OK, just saw the movie and it was awesome! 9/10 from me. Great acting, the writing was true to the book and the score by James Newton Howard was beautiful.

PS: Sam Clafin and Jenna Malone were awesome as Johanna and Finick. Clafin was especially good.

 

[JP]

For me, 8.5-9 for the 1st. 10 for the 2nd.


It's clear to me, that EVERYTHING especially Jennifer Lawrence's performance is BETTER in Catching Fire.

Agreed. Not many sequels are able to pull this off.

 

[Still Wynning]

I should have posted this a few days ago, but, whatever.

Spoiler

So couple about a week ago, in preparation for this film, I decided to watch The Hunger Games for the very first time. I very much enjoyed it, but there were some issues that kept it from being excellent. The poor and obvious CGI, the TV-movie quality of it all, the shaky-cam, the lack of stakes, some less-than-stellar acting, the near absence of the Capitol, and so on.

I thought to myself, "If the next film can fix these problems, I will love it forever."

This film pretty much remedies all problems I had with the first film, and then some:

-The scope and production value for this film dwarf the previous entry's by a mile. Everything looks huge, and nothing looks fake or cheap. For example, the fire actually looks like real fire this time around. t:

-The Capitol has much more of a threatening presence this time around than in the first film, and looks much more impressive in scale. I missed them in the first film, so it was great to see more it here

-The cinematography. Though trading annoying shaky-cam in favor of a more steady, cinematic approach, it doesn't betray the style and look established in the first film, but instead enhances and builds upon what came before. There were many times where the cinematography had my jaw dropping. (Those establishing Capitol shots! )

-The Hunger Games themselves in this movie make the ones in the first film look like a casual nature walk.

-Jennifer Lawrence pretty much takes it to the next level as Katniss. Her emotions felt very raw and very real. I loved how the movie dealt with the consequences of Katniss' participation in the Games, particularly with her bouts of PTSD, which is incorporated and handled much better than another certain film I saw this summer (*coughironman3cough*).

-Even Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, who I thought was merely serviceable in the first film, is nearly on par with Jennifer, and even gets more to do this time. I even found their chemistry more believable than I did in the previous film.

-The recurring cast and the new additions do exceptionally. Donald Sutherland makes a great return as Woody Harrelson continues to rock it as Haymitch. Elizabeth Banks gives more dimension to a formerly two-dimensional part. At times, I felt really bad for her ("You two deserved so much better." ). Sam Claflin is just great and smarmy as Finnick Odair. My favorite new addition, though, probably has to be Jena Malone as Joanna Mason. Even though she didn't have a whole lot of screen time, with what she had, she certainly made an impression, if you know what I mean.

-The pacing felt very consistent throughout, even during the slower parts before the actual Hunger Games take place. I only checked the time once, but that was because it was late and wanted to get home and go to sleep at a good time. t:

-The soundtrack for this film is amazing! Much more grander and atmospheric this time around. It stood out a lot more, but not in an obtrusive kind of way.

-Watching this film, I couldn't help but be reminded of another film similar in tone, themes, story structure and higher stakes: "The Empire Strikes Back". (Remember how I mentioned how the Capitol has a bigger role this time around? It's kind of like that.)

-That cliffhanger! And Jennifer's expression!

-One minor nitpick is the love triangle between three of the main characters, which doesn't really add anything to the movie, except for maybe getting young teenage girls into seats. Fortunately, it's practically a non-entity in the film, and it doesn't really detract from anything else or bring the film down as a whole. However, if you look at it from a political standpoint in the film, it becomes a little more interesting, as it becomes less about the romance and more about the choices Katniss has to make.

Most Hollywood films either aim to be entertaining blockbusters or strong character dramas, but very few actually try to be and succeed in doing both. This film handily does just that, and I love it for that.

The first film had my interest. This film got my attention.

9/10, easily. Looking forward to Mockingjay, Part 1 in November 2014!

 

[roach]

I was not a fan of the first movie and only went to see this because I needed to get out of the house and my buddy was paying. As you can tell I did not enjoy the movie.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I was not a fan of the first movie and only went to see this because I needed to get out of the house and my buddy was paying. As you can tell I did not enjoy the movie.

I couldn't tell, thought it might be a surprising change and you like this one

Did anyone else remember the ending of Matrix Reloaded with the ending of this one?

 

[roach]

I couldn't tell, thought it might be a surprising change and you like this one

Did anyone else remember the ending of Matrix Reloaded with the ending of this one?

Yeah I got a Matrix vibe from it. My issues with the movie are mostly script problems.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

It was straight ESB for me. In a good way.

 

[Quasimod0]

This was a fantastic film. And that ending left me needing to see the next one.

 

[DA_Champion]

It's kind of embarrassing that this thread is on the second page and only five pages long

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Eh... What? There are another 40 something pages in the old thread because of thread manager.

 

[craigdbfan]

So do you guys think Francis Lawrence will be able to maintain this level of quality for the next two films? Or did he get a giant helping hand due to Catching Fire apparently being a very well written book?

Something that I think has helped me enjoy these movies so much has been the fact that I've gone into them almost completely blind as I haven't read the books and I avoid spoilers of any kind at all costs.

With that said I've heard that Mockingjay is the weakest of the three books. Do you think they're going to add some filler to help Mockingjay on its weaknesses? Does Francis Lawrence have a steep hill to climb due to the book not being as good as the previous two?

 

[Spider-Aziz]

So do you guys think Francis Lawrence will be able to maintain this level of quality for the next two films? Or did he get a giant helping hand due to Catching Fire apparently being a very well written book?

It's a maybe, I will probably enjoy them either way

Something that I think has helped me enjoy these movies so much has been the fact that I've gone into them almost completely blind as I haven't read the books and I avoid spoilers of any kind at all costs.

Same thing

With that said I've heard that Mockingjay is the weakest of the three books. Do you think they're going to add some filler to help Mockingjay on its weaknesses? Does Francis Lawrence have a steep hill to climb due to the book not being as good as the previous two?

Maybe, maybe
It could be like Peter Jackson's take on J. R. R. Tolkien books

 

[flickchick85]

So do you guys think Francis Lawrence will be able to maintain this level of quality for the next two films? Or did he get a giant helping hand due to Catching Fire apparently being a very well written book?

Something that I think has helped me enjoy these movies so much has been the fact that I've gone into them almost completely blind as I haven't read the books and I avoid spoilers of any kind at all costs.

With that said I've heard that Mockingjay is the weakest of the three books. Do you think they're going to add some filler to help Mockingjay on its weaknesses? Does Francis Lawrence have a steep hill to climb due to the book not being as good as the previous two?

I haven't read the books either, but I'm pretty sure it's Danny Strong who has the steep climb in writing the script. That said, he is a good writer, so hopefully having 2 movies will give him a chance to flesh out some of the motivations and stuff people had problems with in the book.

 

[craigdbfan]

You're completely right flickchick. It'll rely on the script seeing as Lawrence seems to have the directing part completely in check.

Here's hoping for a micro version of David Yates/Steve Cloves situation where they both played off of each other well and were able to create great films, one after the other.

Holy cow. I just checked who wrote Catching Fire and it makes complete sense. That's not even mentioning Ardnt who apparently rewrote part of the script. No wonder Catching Fire was so freaking powerful. It's making a lot of sense now.

No offense to Strong and Craig but they have some gigantic shoes to fill. Seriously.

Kind of a shame they weren't able to get Beaufoy & deBruyn back. Ardnt I sort of get seeing as he has been extremely busy but still...

Oh well.

 

[DA_Champion]

DeBruyn and Arndt are the same person.

 

[craigdbfan]

Oh whoa. I had no idea.

That's trippy. Wonder why he used an alias?

My point still stands. Ardnt and Beaufoy did a wonderful job. Nothing Strong and Craig have done is anywhere near the stuff they've done.

 

[DA_Champion]

I agree with you, they went for a home run with these two writers and got it. It simply does not get any better than Arndt and Beaufoy.

With that said, I liked the first movie, which didn't have Arndt and Beaufoy as screenwriters.

 

[craigdbfan]

Same here man. I still love the first Hunger Games but you have to remember both Ross and Collins had a hand in that script. Both of them being pretty accomplished writers.

I don't want to completely crap on Craig and Strong as they might deliver but like you said Ardnt and Beaufoy is as good as it gets. Home run is the best way to describe what I witnessed two days ago.

 

[DA_Champion]

Same here man. I still love the first Hunger Games but you have to remember both Ross and Collins had a hand in that script. Both of them being pretty accomplished writers.

I don't want to completely crap on Craig and Strong as they might deliver but like you said Ardnt and Beaufoy is as good as it gets. Home run is the best way to describe what I witnessed two days ago.

Grand slam would be another good term.

Nah... never mind, grand slam fits if the next two movie are as good as the first two... or should we call that a cycle?

I'm helpless.

 

[Sentinel X]

So do you guys think Francis Lawrence will be able to maintain this level of quality for the next two films? Or did he get a giant helping hand due to Catching Fire apparently being a very well written book?

Something that I think has helped me enjoy these movies so much has been the fact that I've gone into them almost completely blind as I haven't read the books and I avoid spoilers of any kind at all costs.

With that said I've heard that Mockingjay is the weakest of the three books. Do you think they're going to add some filler to help Mockingjay on its weaknesses? Does Francis Lawrence have a steep hill to climb due to the book not being as good as the previous two?

Mockingjay is the weakest of the three BUT it could work as a film. Just like Hunger Games is the best of the three, but I always knew that Catching Fire would make a better film than the Hunger Games.

The problem I have is that they split it into two. I get it, its a hot franchise and the studio wants to make money...but still, TWO movies for that book is ridiculous (The Hobbit still takes the cake for splitting into three films though...wtf). I just think this trend, started by Harry Potter, is not always the right choice for movies. It worked for Harry Potter because face it...that book is huge...plus there was actually enough plot to keep it going. Mockingjay however is kind of.....anticlimactic through out the book. So, splitting it into two already made the job harder on them

 

[mclay18]

With that said I've heard that Mockingjay is the weakest of the three books. Do you think they're going to add some filler to help Mockingjay on its weaknesses? Does Francis Lawrence have a steep hill to climb due to the book not being as good as the previous two?

Suzanne Collins has been closely involved with each movie (she co-wrote the first film with Gary Ross and Billy Ray). When Francis Lawrence came on to direct Catching Fire, she and Lawrence dropped Simon Beaufoy's draft and went back to the book. After they hashed out the new treatment for the film, that's when Michael Arndt came on.

She did the same thing when Lionsgate announced the splitting of "Mockingjay" into two films. She, Francis Lawrence, and writer Danny Strong went over the book and decided where to the split the book. I'm sure she had input on where they could fill in some story gaps and flesh out the ending more.