Catching Fire the movie

Ok this review is going to be slightly different from the others. I don’t usually review movies because I spend more time reading and actually getting to the cinema is something that I don’t do often. But in this case I’ve actually seen Catching Fire twice.

It’s not because it’s a good movie, though it is. And it’s not because I fell asleep for five minutes the first time I watched it (I’d had a busy few days). I just had two different groups of friends who wanted to see it and I went with both. But this means that I’ve had a lot more time to analyse it than I usually would and this will naturally offset what I have to say. Just so we’re all clear and honest.

Catching Fire is the second in the Hunger Games trilogy. I’m going to say right now that I wasn’t too happy with the first movie. I mean, it wasn’t bad exactly. It was certainly watchable.  But there were things about it I just didn’t like. The camerawork for the opening fifteen minutes seemed a bit jolty to me. I don’t really want to make a point of that though because every time I’ve mentioned it to someone else they’ve looked at me like I’m an idiot and I’m not sure that the projector didn’t just have a little malfunction. I also felt that they took too long actually getting to the games. They were focusing on the build up for a long time. The games themselves were reasonably well done, though the dogs at the end were a bit of a let-down, especially considering how horrific they were in the books. Still this was a PG 13 movie so there was a limit to what they could show. But my main problem with it was how they dealt with Peeta’s character. They made him seem a bit…weak? In the book he was a really strong character who found himself stuck in a tournament to the death with a girl he had a huge crush on and decided to focus on getting her through it. However I always felt that his feelings for Katniss didn’t define him, that he would have acted in a similar manner for someone else in the games. He was very sure about doing it his way and not letting the Capitol change him. But in the books he seem half shell shocked and half obsessively in love. At one point he apologised for not actually handing Katniss the bread instead of just dropping it at her feet. The other line of his that they missed out, the major one in my opinion, was the point where he said, ‘I did like other girls. But not as much or for as long as you.’ It actually gave him depth.

So all in all I wasn’t too impressed with the first movie. But Catching Fire blows it all away.

Seriously, where to start? It just seems an all-round better movie and a masterful adaptation of a book. Once again it takes half the movie to get to the actual Hunger Games part of it and when I first watched it I was very aware of how long it had taken. But they didn’t actually cut anything that happened in the arena. In fact, looking back, they had to cut a lot from the pre-tournament bit that would have been nice to see. And in the book it took that long to get there as well.

Peeta is a much stronger character in this movie. In fact they’ve pared back on the romance a fair bit, something I’m thankful for. They haven’t removed it completely and Gale’s character seems there to do nothing but angst but Peeta actually seemed like his own person, not some pathetic ball and chain for Katniss.

Finally let’s talk about the love shown to the actual readers of the book. Obviously they couldn’t include everything. There was never any possibility of that. But there are so many nice touches that hint at what’s there without actually showing it. The whole Avox subplot is dropped but they still include one waiting on everyone and standing silently in the background. President Snow’s Granddaughter also features in this movie, which didn’t happen in the books. I’m personally glad they made that change though. When she gets mentioned in Mockingjay it’s quite sudden and we got no hint of her existence previously. If they do that part of the movie in the same way as in the book then it’s going to have a much better impact.

Nothing is perfect though and there are a few things that I’ve got issue with. As previously mentioned Gale has been reduced as a character to someone much less likeable, who does nothing but complain and act angsty. Then there’s the ending. It worked and it was just like in the book but it was still pretty abrupt. And it didn’t have the same impact as in the book because the destination they end up in (I’m keeping it vague to stop spoilers) is just barely mentioned. In the books there was this huge subplot about it and we got the possibility presented to us firmly. But in the movie it’s mentioned once before they arrive and in a speech where you’re paying much more attention to the rest of what’s being said than the specifics. Then, when it is revealed, it’s again in a dialogue where there are slightly more important things being discussed. It might have been nice to get some surprise or for the location to have been mentioned a bit more previously but I’m not sure they could have properly done it without taking something else out.

But seriously, go see this movie. It’s just so good. Everything is done well, the camera work is seamless and you’ll have a whole lot of fun watching it. My meaningless rating is a very solid eight out of ten and here’s the link to the trailer.