The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Review

I'm still betting on you.

Full review by Isaac Handelman

Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy appeals to an extraordinarily wide audience, across all ages and both genders. As an indirect result, the film adaptations of The Hunger Games trilogy need worry about only appealing to a very slim audience; those who read the book. The Hunger Games films are not successful for their appeal outside of the literary fanbase. The films are successful because the literary fanbase of The Hunger Games is flat out enormous. The majority of those who pay to watch The Hunger Games: Catching Fire have either read, or are in the company of a person who has read, its source novel. As such, the filmmakers behind Catching Fire hold in their hands both a virtue, and a vice. Their virtue is that they only must worry about appealing to those who are familiar with their source material. Their vice is that the sort of rabid fanbase possessed by The Hunger Games trilogy demands a faithful recreation of their beloved book.

By and large, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a success. Though not without its caveats, Catching Fire maintains most of the intensity and -- more impressively -- the intelligence of its source material.

Katniss' internal turmoil is captured well in this adaptation.

Those reading are probably already familiar with the narrative set up (those who are not, beware of mild spoilers ahead, though nothing the trailers didn’t already reveal): the victors of the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, are thrust back into the arena for a second go-round of fight-to-the-death, this time against other seasoned killers courtesy of the 75th Anniversary games known as the Quarter Quell. This time, however, the actual “Hunger Games” portion of The Hunger Games is toned down considerably, only taking up a bit over half of the film’s runtime. Within this stretch is contained most of the film's action, and, despite widespread audience knowledge of the outcomes of the onscreen characters' fates, Catching Fire remains magnificently intense through most of its conflicts. The frantic ten-second countdown to the start of the games is just as nail-bitingly stressful this time around as it was in the first film.

One of the film’s most prominent strengths continues to be its cast. Leading lady Jennifer Lawrence is exceedingly strong as Katniss, imbuing her character with honesty and likability, and excelling when it comes to delivering on emotional scenes. She’s also quite fun to root for when she’s got a bow in her hand. Lawrence is backed up by a strong supporting cast, bolstered most notably by veterans Woody Harrelson and Philip Seymour Hoffman, both in somewhat untraditional career roles, and both stealing most scenes they’re in. Katniss’ fellow tributes are mostly strong: of course there’s Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, who gets himself into trouble one-too-many-times but does well enough in his soft, comforting role; Liam Hemsworth gets considerably less screentime in this sequel, which is well enough because Gale was never a hugely interesting character, though he’s solid in the scenes he’s in; the highlight of the newcomers is Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair, who comes off as obnoxious initially (perhaps intentionally), but soon becomes an enjoyable onscreen presence. He’s perhaps not quite as dynamic and likable as his literary counterpart, but Claflin’s role will hopefully be expanded upon in films to follow.

The uprising gains traction.

Part of the wonder of seeing Panem brought to life has worn off for this sequel, as it’s no longer the first time we’re seeing the series in its visual incarnation. Nonetheless, screenwriters Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt do a good job adhering to the source material which, honestly, is exactly what they should be doing in this sort of situation. In many ways, it’s remarkable how true to the novel Catching Fire manages to be. Of course, some of the more intrinsic, personal connections with Katniss are lost in the transition away from the first-person format of the novels, but the impact of what the characters are being forced to do is portrayed well. The screenplay is not without a couple of hiccups, mostly when it attempts to adhere a bit too closely to its source material. On occasion, characters spout out monologues and isolated lines which, though effective in the book, come off as overwrought and hammy when uttered aloud.

Thankfully, these stumbles do not come at the expense of a loss of intelligence in the transition from the novel to the screen. Though far from subtle, the underlying themes of The Hunger Games series are portrayed with grace in this adaptation. Alongside the aforementioned success the film achieves in showing how its characters cope with stone-cold killing, Catching Fire succeeds in preserving the more delicate aspects of Katniss’ predicament. Her love triangle involving Peeta and Gale would come off as a hackneyed, pointless romantic divergence at the hands of less capable writers; here, the complexities of her relationship with the two men are made clear.

Surprise! Woody Harrelson is still awesome.

She isn’t just choosing between them for the sake of having a romantic conflict in the story. She’s struggling hard to balance her facade to stay alive with her true feelings. She’s trying to be a symbol of resistance for her people while simultaneously faking (?) a relationship to keep her life intact. Some of the meant-to-be gasp-inducing moments become instantly predictable when one realizes that the screenwriters would be idiotic to kill off any of those characters, but the overarching drama and deep moral quandaries surrounding Katniss’ situation make these concessions worth it for the payoff -- and for how eloquently Katniss’ relationship issues are integrated into central conflict of the narrative.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is not a monumental film in any respect, but it is an undeniably successful embodiment of its source material in a visual form. For the vast majority of the film’s intended audience, that’s all that is necessary. The fact that the film is able to maintain the finer complexities of its source novel is icing on the cake, and boosts the film from competent visual representation to effective adaptation. Catching Fire will excite fans of the novel, and leave them hungry for the first half of the finale.

Oh, and the shaky camera is gone! Rejoice!