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

[JP]

Mockingjay is not the weakest book. None of them are weak.

However, much like THG and Catching Fire, there's nothing about Mockingjay that needs to be told over two films.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Mockingjay is not the weakest book. None of them are weak.

However, much like THG and Catching Fire, there's nothing about Mockingjay that needs to be told over two films.

Unless they are all of the exact same quality, one has to be the weakest. Doesn't mean any are weak. And the common consensus seems to be that Mockingjay is the weakest.

 

[JP]

And I disagree with that "consensus".

 

[SuperT]

Mockingjay is my least favorite of the three but I wouldn't call it weak.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

And I disagree with that "consensus".

Which is find, but do you find them all to be the exact same quality? I have personally never seen anything like that in a series. They all have their peaks and valleys in my experience.

 

[craigdbfan]

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.

That's some great info mclay thanks man.

Very good news (or news to me at least) to hear.

 

[Crockett]

I didn't have the time to catch this until yesterday but it was what I expected, brilliant. Everything from the book was lifted and improved, it helps that they have a talented cast & crew but they deserve that by never losing focus on what's important, the characters that inhabited the world, the topics on society and still be the crowd pleaser it is. Jennifer continues to shine in the role, she makes it look so effortless, bringing all of Katniss' traits and personality to life and at the same time make her emotionally resonate to the audience, it's ridiculous how great she's getting, I'm constantly being (happily) surprised. Francis did a good job, surprisingly. He lets the emotional aspects of the story breath, let it developed and the arena scenes were packed with tension, the violence never felt undermined at any point of the film. The new additions were good, Malone, Claflin and of course Seymour Hoffman. There's not much I could say, had a blast and beyond hyped for the sequels.

 

[Teelie]

I only managed to catch it today but it was a very good movie. It's one of the few movies I'd go to see in the theater again twice instead of waiting for the home video release.

 

[rashad]

BoxOffice ‏@BoxOffice4m
THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE: $74.5M Weekend (est) / $296.56M Domestic Total / 4,163 Locations / $17,896 Location Avg. #CatchingFire

BoxOffice ‏@BoxOffice4m
THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE: $276.5M Overseas Total / $573M Global Total. #CatchingFire

 

[terry78]

Damn, this flick is no joke.

 

[rashad]

Nearly 300M after 10 days. Yeah that 2013 domestic crown is up for grabs.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I have a hard time imagining it not beating Iron Man 3 at this point. It's only got about $100 million to go.

 

[Hyde]

This movie was brilliant. I wasn't hyped at all even though the trailers looked pretty good, but it was so much fun! Great direction, acting, script and cinematography with some very good social commentary and all the while still managing to be entertaining. Also, the ending was really clever too; lots of my friends hated it but it made perfect sense, it left me thinking "holy ****" and I didn't see the twist with Seymour Hoffman's character coming.

Someone please give Lawrence a Marvel or DC franchise when he's finished with Hunger Games. Wonder Woman, maybe? Thor 3?

5/5

 

[Teelie]

I knew Plutarch Heavensbee (Hoffman) was up to something almost from the start against Snow but not if it was his own agenda (a coup) or a part of a larger revolution like he seems to be now.

Jennifer is already Mystique in the X-Men Origins/Days movies so if she were to play another character it would be better in DC. I'd love to see her as Wonder Woman but they'd have to get that off the ground first.

 

[MrMaooz]

I think he might be talking about Francis Lawrence, Teelie, because I don't know why J.Law would join Thor 3.

 

[Hyde]

I meant Francis Lawrence.

Looking back on it I should have seen the twist coming. Hoffman's character seemed kinda empty and pointless and someone for President Snow to bounce off of in evilness, not a role that would require someone of Hoffman's calibre. Now I know the twist with his character it makes a lot of sense

 

[Teelie]

I see that, misread it. Lawrence and Lawrence, if you skim too quickly over a post you miss a few details.

 

[Hyde]

Skim over my posts? Pfft. I'm insulted.

 

[Still Wynning]

I was just thinking about something the other day.

Knowing Francis Lawrence is a big fan of the books, how he was able to so well capture the scale of the Capitol and the desolate landscapes, the characters' motivations, the high stakes, the terrors of certain situations, and also make you feel for these characters, it makes me wonder what a Francis Lawrence-directed The Lord of the Rings would have been like.

I can imagine he would have captured the grand scope and the terror very well (imagine the Shelob sequence and the Nazgul directed by him! ). Not to mention that we probably would have cared for the characters even more.

Not that I don't like Peter Jackson's version, but it makes me wonder.

 

[DA_Champion]

This movie was so good that I kind of want to watch Constantine, also directed by Francis Lawrence.

I'll be seeing it a second time next week. I would love for this movie to win the 2013 box office crown, it's genuinely good, certainly better than iron man 3.

 

[DA_Champion]

This movie was brilliant. I wasn't hyped at all even though the trailers looked pretty good, but it was so much fun! Great direction, acting, script and cinematography with some very good social commentary and all the while still managing to be entertaining. Also, the ending was really clever too; lots of my friends hated it but it made perfect sense, it left me thinking "holy ****" and I didn't see the twist with Seymour Hoffman's character coming.

Someone please give Lawrence a Marvel or DC franchise when he's finished with Hunger Games. Wonder Woman, maybe? Thor 3?

5/5

You mean the part with the arrow was brilliant, or the twist at the end?

I was really impressed by the part with the arrow. I didn't think the first movie's ending could be topped, and then, boom !

 

[Hyde]

The twist ending, but the arrow part was very smart and cool too. Didn't see it coming - nice to see a lead character being smart.

 

[flickchick85]

Nearly 300M after 10 days. Yeah that 2013 domestic crown is up for grabs.

I hope it takes it. Not just because I loved the movie more than IM3 (and I'm one who actually did love IM3), but also because it would be awesome to see a blockbuster with a kick-ass female lead dethrone one of Hollywood's biggest and most-beloved superheroes to be the #1 movie of the year. What a lovely message that would send to some of the more thick-skulled studio execs out there.

 

[terry78]

To them that would just mean casting Jennifer Lawrence for everything, not that females can make money.

 

[Snow Queen]

I hope it takes it. Not just because I loved the movie more than IM3 (and I'm one who actually did love IM3), but also because it would be awesome to see a blockbuster with a kick-ass female lead dethrone one of Hollywood's biggest and most-beloved superheroes to be the #1 movie of the year. What a lovely message that would send to some of the more thick-skulled studio execs out there.

I'm really hoping the success of this will push executives to greenlight a few more good female-led action films a year. Queen & Country is apparently on the way at least, so that's good.