The biggest surprise of the year is that a sequel to a mediocre movie has actually improved on the original. Catching Fire, the second in a quadrilogy of films based off of Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games series of books, is a vast improvement upon 2012’s The Hunger Games in terms of plot, dialogue, camerawork, characterization-- Really, everything. However, this is only possible because the original Hunger Games movie failed on all of those fronts, so really this isn’t saying much. But this installment is fast-paced, witty, and (most importantly) is capable of entertaining both the fangirls and their boyfriends who were dragged to see it. Which I would call a win.
Picking up where The Hunger Games left off, Catching Fire tells the story of the post-Hunger Games Catpiss Everdeen. Having been traumatized by the atrocities committed in the games and the fact that she was forced to make out with an albino midget for the cameras, she is a hollow shell of her former self. Jennifer Lawrence actually bothers to act in this installment, and the difference is quite palpable. Also, very little attention was paid to the fact that her relationship with the aforementioned albino midget (PETA) was fake in the original film, and that was expanded upon a lot more in this sequel. Altogether, the character of Catpiss is given far more motivation and backstory, making her character a lot more relatable.
After seeing her act of defiance at the end of the first film, the twelve districts in the dystopian nation called Panem have rallied together to form a resistance movement against the evil Capitol. I also enjoyed this aspect of the movie a lot, as it shows that some people will end up becoming symbols or heroes, whether they like it or not. Unlike the first movie, there’s actually some social commentary, and the political edge of the first half of the movie is its greatest asset. However... this social commentary seems a little weird at some points. For instance, in the cotton-picking district where every single citizen is black. These black cotton-pickers are then assaulted by “Peace Officers” who wield batons and are dressed all in white. Really? You know, while you’re at it, why not have them use fire hoses? You might as well if you’re going to be that on-the-nose about it.
However, after she becomes a symbol of hope for the plebeians, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) decides that this shit can’t go on. So he declares that the 75th Hunger Games will be made up of former winners from the previous games, in order to get rid of Catpiss and PETA, as well as the other winners, whom he now views as a threat. This is where the film starts going downhill; it started out as a great political allegory, and then it devolved into a movie about Jennifer Lawrence battling raging baboons and being attacked by a gas that causes zits. And no, that is not a joke. It can’t seem to find a consistent tone, as it juggles its political commentary side, its action side, and...
THE BULLSHIT LOVE TRIANGLE. I swear to God, is it just written into law now that every single Young Adult novel has to have a love triangle for the main character? The character of Gale (also known as Thor’s brother) is clearly wedged into the movie just to give the whole “Catpiss doesn’t actually love PETA” aspect some credibility. The film tries to give both of them enough screen time for character development, and as a result doesn’t give EITHER of them enough, making them come off as boring, one-dimensional, and incredibly obnoxious. They both only show up when the plot demands it, and when they do, they are utterly interchangeable.
However, the film does have some great supporting characters. Sutherland’s turn as the vindictive, ice-cold President Snow is one for the ages (even if the movie isn’t). Woody Harrelson reprises his role from the first film as the drunken comic relief and mentor to Catpiss and PETA. And it also has the welcome addition of Philip Seymour Hoffman as the new game-master... after the previous one had an unfortunate “accident.” Of course, the movie also features Elizabeth Banks as Nicki Minaj and Stan Tucci as the biggest flamer of all time, but I can overlook them, as they’re SUPPOSED to be over-the-top flamboyant. Still... that doesn’t make me cringe any less when they show up onscreen.
My complaint with this series is not that it spends too much time on the romance, or that it skimps on the action, or any of the bullshit reasons that people give for disliking these movies. It’s that they can’t figure out what they want to be. One minute they’re an excitingly deep political allegory about an utterly corrupt government gone mad with power... and the next minute, we’re seeing the aforementioned Loki fucker pushing Jennifer Lawrence’s hair behind her ears and calling her “Catnip.” Ten minutes later, people are getting flogged in the streets. Given that, it’s pretty surprising that this movie has actually found a good target audience, because it’s really all over the map when it comes to theme. But this was altogether a startlingly good movie and a vast improvement over the original, which was a piece of shit.
Final Score for The Hunger Lames: Catching Flame: 6/10 stars. Good (but not as good as it could have been), this second installment raises the stakes from the first movie while simultaneously delivering a fun and invigorating story about a dystopian society. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling in the theater that I had seen everything in this movie before. If you want to talk carbon-copy sequels (like Die Hard 2), well... look no further than this. But it also didn’t feel like it was just bridging the gap between the first and final installments (like The Two Towers), so I have to give it points for that. This isn’t a movie where I can tell you to turn off your brain and have a good time, but at the same time, if you overthink it you won’t enjoy it. Just pay rapt attention for the first half... and then have fun for the second. Three words: Dat water scene.
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