Sunday, November 24, 2013

Catching Fire (2013)

I'm not a big fan of the Hunger Games . I haven't read the books, I'm not obsessed with the film , although I did think that the first movie was great it did not really wow me in anyway...


So Catching Fire is the second movie in the Hunger Games film franchise and we see heroine Katniss Everdeen and fellow Peeta Mellark go on with their lives after winning the previous Hunger Games feautured in the first film . Obviously they have stepped up with brand new houses and a celebrity status to boot. But it's not all glamour , there is a dark side to it , as they are nothing more but media pawns of the government . And they must follow , or have the people they love be in danger. Unfortunately for Katniss she becomes a symbol of resistance and revolution. Try as she did to stop this persona , she fails or succeeds in sowing the seeds of revolution . This prompts the tyrant dictator President Snow to issue a statement that in celebration of the 75 years of the Hunger Games the current crop of tributes or participants would be taken from each district's previous champions . This is in an attempt to suppress the following of the victors particularly katniss.

This movie is really good. And I think it might even be better than the first one. The first movie was more of an introduction and I don't think we were able to delve enough the underlying philosophy of the film franchise and book series with it. Here it's message about the modern society we live in is more pronounced. Such as the scripted hypocrisy of reality television of how media is used to alter our opinion . It says a lot about government suppression and the power of the people .Which is just beautifully presented without being too preachy. As always Jennifer absolutely shines , so does Josh Hutcherson who could stand up to the spotlight of the main character who is played by an academy award winner with an equally masterful performance . New cast member Sam Clafin who plays fellow victor Finnick Odair also brought in his acting chops . The only problem I had with any of the cast is that of Liam Hemsworth, who seemed nothing more but a prop for the whole thing . Everyone else brought their A-game except him, and amidst all those brilliant actors if you do just an ok performance it will come out bad, he needs to step it up after all there are still two movies to be made of the franchise. Except for that everything is great, the action , the story , the performances , the special effects all of it is amazing . This is not your typical teen fantasy/sci-fi movie it is a must see.

Watch Trailer Here

Cast
Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark
Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne
Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy
Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket
Lenny Kravitz as Cinna
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee
Jeffrey Wright as Beetee Latier
Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman
Donald Sutherland as President Coriolanus Snow
Toby Jones as Claudius Templesmith
Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair

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