Catching Fire is a better film than The Hunger Games. That's not hard to do and I feel that that comparison has contributed to much of the hype surrounding the sequel. Turns out that Catching Fire's not that great either.
This new installment picks up a year after the first film. Katniss and Peeta are going on tour as last year's victors to promote the 75th Hunger Games. Turns out that Katniss has become a symbol of the growing revolution against The Capitol. The evil President Snow decides to take advantage of the Quarter Quell (a shakeup of the Hunger Games that occurs every 25 years) and pit the former Hunger Games winners against each other with Katniss' death being the intended outcome. Can Katniss and Peeta win the Hunger Games again? Can they save their families from the brutality of The Capitol? And even if they can, what comes next?
Well, I'll tell you what comes next! Revolution! But I only know that from the books. Based on the end of Catching Fire, you'd think the next two films (that's right, two films) are going to be the teen version of Kill Bill.
The story-telling in the sequel is no better than the first. In fact, it may be worse. Catching Fire is one of those movies that assumes its audience are morons who need every little thing spelled out for them. Not only is this insulting, but in order to do this, the dialogue becomes very clunky as people try to act and deliver awkward exposition. The script is so bad that three time Oscar nominee (and one time winner) Jennifer Lawrence ends up giving a borderline terrible performance. No one can elevate that material.
So, how is Catching Fire a better movie than The Hunger Games? Because of Francis Lawrence. Say what you will about the quality of his films, but the man at least has a keen eye for atmosphere and action. What Lawrence brings to Catching Fire is a harder edge and a better made film. The Quarter Quell is pretty exciting and, unlike the first movie, you can actually see what's happening.
The Quarter Quell is where the movie really shines. People stop delivering exposition and start killing each other. The effects work is really good. The fights are about as violent as PG-13 will allow. Even the performances get better (you may even want Peeta not to get killed).
Now that we've seen a first installment that is a total mess and a second film that is a total mess for only the first half, can we expect only the first quarter of Mockingjay: Part I to be terrible and all of Part II to be great? I certainly hope so (we'll find out in November). The books deserve a better treatment than they are receiving.
5.5 out of 10
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