If the first Hunger Games film was a comment on our obsession with celebrity culture and reality television, then Catching Fire is a more personal take on the darker side of fame and the shallowness of the celebrity facade.
Picking up where the last film left off, we
again follow Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) now living as the victor of
the previous games. Yet life is far from
perfect. Katniss not only struggles with
the psychological trauma she’s endured, haunted by those she’s killed in the
past, but she continues to (frustratingly) flit between love interests with
alarming frequency: the strong, blue-eyed Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and the whiny
Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). Then there’s
the wider revolutionary plot – can she escape her position as President Snow’s
puppet (Donald Sutherland) and rise to her own revolutionary symbol of the
mockingjay?
Where the novel dragged a little during the
first half, the film does a great job of building character, wisely focusing
the plot on Katniss with few trimmings.
Though she’s supported by some great performances (Sutherland’s
contemptible Snow and a hilarious turn from Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket),
only an actress with the acting ability of Lawrence could carry the oppressive weight
of this film (as well as providing hilarity in one lift-based scene). It’s largely thanks to her that the film is
such a success.
This might be a film aimed at teenagers but
its downbeat tone certainly has an adult feel.
The dystopian world is bleak and daringly true to life, accompanied by
James Newton Howard’s sombre score. By
comparison, the Capitol is a spectacular but garish and hyperbolic take on a possible
celebrity-obsessed future. Most of all,
the morbid themes and overbearing sadness will certainly appeal to the darker
side of teenage audiences.
The film may be long but it remains well
paced, thoroughly gripping and often beautifully shot. The second half is all out action: brutal,
sadistic and always thrilling, with convincing special effects. Nothing is more torturous, however, than the
cliffhanger ending and the long wait until the third film.
Catching
Fire builds and improves upon the first film,
resulting in a fantasy saga that’s exciting and engrossing, with a reluctant heroine who’s easy to root for. And as an
adaptation of the book, fans will not be disappointed - the odds are definitely
in our favour.
4/5