8.5 out of 10 Noodles
May the odds be
ever in your favor... Just kidding, I'm not that cliche to start off a review
with a generic quote from the movie. But for future reference, do not whistle
four notes while holding up three fingers; you will get shot. That's not all I
learned from this movie though. I learned that there's hope for The Hunger
Games series. Actually, let me rephrase that. We all know that it's going
to make big bucks from all those devout fans of the books and just the teen
populace of the world, so: I learned that there's hope for the quality of
the movies in the series. So, we left off in the first movie that Katniss and
Peeta won the Hunger Games, and the way they did it gave way for people to get
the hope and idea to rebel against the oppressive government in this world.
Let's talk about the world for a second. The world that Suzanne Collins has
established is actually really impressive and interesting. I really dig the
lore and how everything came to be, as well as the overall atmosphere of it.
This movie gets that atmosphere right. The tone throughout the beginning of
this movie is spot-on and I was afraid that wouldn't get it right, because the
first movie didn't quite do it. I liked the first movie to a certain degree; it
did hit some good notes, but I personally don't feel like it did the source
material the right amount of justice. Catching Fire, takes almost a
180-degree turn, because this is SO much better! First off, they build off of
the good things in the first movie, and then they improve on some of the weak
points, and I think that's a lot due to the new director because I could
definitely tell that this was directed differently (for the better, though).
The camera angles are a lot better, as well as the tone and placement of
everything; especially the pacing. Pacing was a major problem for me in the
first movie because I don't think I should be getting bored during a movie
about a government-orchestrated fight to the death between teenagers in a
post-apocalyptic world. But I did. Sigh. The pacing is much better in this
sequel. I was invested throughout more of the movie. And here's what you've all
been waiting for... wait for it... the violence in onscreen! In the first
movie, almost all the violence was offscreen so we didn't even see what happened;
it was moreso implied. That deters the viewers from caring as much for what
happened. Being able to see the actual cuts, injuries, hits, and deaths, really
adds more to the emotion and investment in the film.
That is also
thanks to the acting because that's also great. Jennifer Lawrence has obviously
proved herself as a credible actress now. She's got an Oscar, is the
frontrunner for one of Hollywood's currently largest franchises, and is a great
onscreen presence. We know she's great as Katniss. But I was really surprised
by her in the beginning of the movie. You really begin to feel bad for Katniss
and she effectively portrays her post-traumatic stress and stubbornness. What
really surprised me, though, was Josh Hutcherson. Wow, man, give yourself a pat
on the back. Josh Hutcherson improved so much; I was literally impressed. In
the first movie, I gave him a lot of crap since his acting was so wooden and
ineffective. Back then he was just a pretty face. He's really improved, because
I genuinely cared for his character in this movie, maybe even more than for
Katniss at some points. Their little entourage in the Hunger Games is quite
fleshed out and distinctive as well. It's inevitable that everyone's gonna love
Finnick (or Aquaman as I called him). He's a humble yet confident guy who
protects his old lady friend Mags; he's attractive and he fights with a
trident. The guy is acted well, too, so he's definitely a plus. My favorite
character, however, is Plutarch Heavensby. He's the gamemaster, and plots with
President Snow (the real baddie) on how to get rid of Katniss; their
conversation on how to get that done is probably my favorite scene in the whole
movie. He's played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, one of my favorite actors, and I
knew just from the trailers that I'd end up loving him. He surpassed my other
favorite character, Caesar. Caesar, as well as pretty much all of the
supporting cast is acted well. The only characters I sort of have a problem
with are the career tributes (the tributes from districts 1 and 2). I
understand that they're supposed to be formidable foes, but this movie honestly
doesn't play them as anything else; it feels like they're just there to be bad
guys.
Unfortunately,
like the first movie, the pace slows down when the Hunger Games actually start
out. This is a bit of a letdown because it's a little weird that the movie
slows down when the "action" actually begins. Not only that, but the
quality of the movie takes a bit of a dip as well. Yet by this point, it is a
realization that the actual Hunger Games aren't the basis of the series. The
Hunger Games event itself is a tool to help tell the story; it's a vehicle to
propel the actual conflicts. That conflict is oppression and revolution. And
this is one of the main reasons I like the book series. It's layered and has
elements of politics on top of all this action and stuff. It's not just black
and white wherein a good guy is trying to beat a bad guy; there's other
components involved. Catching Fire really started to show that, whereas
one of my main problems with its predecessor was the lack of this layering. So
up to the Hunger Games, we have actual dramatic conflict occurring, and it
keeps us intrigued most of the way leading up to the games. The scope of the
film was great until then, and I really felt more connected to the characters
before it happened. Speaking of scope, there are some moments in the film that
really make it feel more epic, and truly escalate the experience; this is in
part due to a great blend of sweeping cinematography and a strong musical
score. The score in this movie is
definitely much stronger than that of the first movie since the music is
actually memorable. I guess we could sum up this movie that way, because it's
overall just more memorable than the first installment of the franchise. Catching
Fire is a more exciting and more layered film that not only houses more
intrigue, but also more cinematic prowess. Despite it having some obvious
conveniences and other downfalls, Catching Fire is definitely a step in
the right direction for the series; a step toward 8.5 out of 10 Noodles. The odds are coming to be in their favor.
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