The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

[Impact]

My first IMAX film EVER! (Note that coral reef film I saw in 3rd grade does not count )

 

Catching Fire IMAX

3PMAbout 30% full

Trailers:

 

Maleficent: Looks pretty good, some talking.

Divergent: Um okay....nothing.

I, Frankenstein: "Hey its Two Face and Davy Jones" Yep the only comments

Robocop: Oddly the old trailer. Nothing.

Hobbit 2 (new trailer): Quite a bit of talking, made up for any badness of the other trailers.

 

Movie: Pretty good, better then the first. Was more open ended as well. Lawrence is a cutie. The score was decent, and a couple comical scenes (the scene on the elevator-classic!)

B+

[eXtacy]

I'm surprised by the amount of A's this forum gives out. Should be reserved for exceptional films. This movie was great and entertaining but not exceptional. Overall a B for me.

[iceroll]

I'm surprised by the amount of A's this forum gives out. Should be reserved for exceptional films. This movie was great and entertaining but not exceptional. Overall a B for me.

[ChD]

Massive improvement over the first one.

 

A

[Jim Shorts]

Unpopular opinion, but I feel the same way about Catching Fire as THG in that the setting up, first half is better than the actual game. However, the game in CF is definitely better, no shaking cam yay! 

+1In both movies I was so bored with the actual games themselves. A ton of walking, running, sleeping and hiding and horns going off in the distance. 2-3 minutes of actual combat.

[mattmav45]

In both films I never really got a sense that any of the main characters were in danger.  I do agree that the Games in CF were done better than the first, but in the end without any sense of danger the whole film can't really deliver in the way it should.

[JohnnyGossamer]

The games are certainly the least interesting part for me. I will say, HG games were more compelling given the age of the competitors, the death of Rue, the pathos involved, etc... CF games felt much more contrived and, aside from the giant, spinning clock, were less engaging/dramatic in every way than HG games were. That's why I preferred HG to CF.

[JohnnyGossamer]

In both films I never really got a sense that any of the main characters were in danger.  I do agree that the Games in CF were done better than the first, but in the end without any sense of danger the whole film can't really deliver in the way it should.

While I agree, I do feel HG put Katniss in a handful of situations in which she seemed in peril or, at least, helpless. I didn't get that vibe at any point during CF.

[Prime Mover and Shaker]

I thought it was fantastic. Great adaptation, and my high expectations were met. JLaw was incredible (although I did catch her "acting" in a few scenes), and much of the supporting cast was great as well.It had been long enough since I read the book that I forgot about Plutarch's role, so that was a cool, unexpected reminder (although it kind of started coming back ot me as the movie progressed).I loved the end scene - the girl has talent. I can't believe it is competing for the same dollar amount as Iron Man 3. THAT flick was a let down, for sure. I guess there's no accounting for taste.

[Noctis]

I thought it was fantastic. Great adaptation, and my high expectations were met. JLaw was incredible (although I did catch her "acting" in a few scenes), and much of the supporting cast was great as well. It had been long enough since I read the book that I forgot about Plutarch's role, so that was a cool, unexpected reminder (although it kind of started coming back ot me as the movie progressed). I loved the end scene - the girl has talent. I can't believe it is competing for the same dollar amount as Iron Man 3. THAT flick was a let down, for sure. I guess there's no accounting for taste.

 

It's great to hear from you. Where have you been?

[mattmav45]

While I agree, I do feel HG put Katniss in a handful of situations in which she seemed in peril or, at least, helpless. I didn't get that vibe at any point during CF.

Indeed.

 

As someone who has never read the books, CF really telegraphed the "twist" at the end with the force field and arena blowing up.  It was pretty obvious from the minute I saw the lightning tree that somehow the arena would be destroyed, especially after the "force field" comment prior to the Games.  Once I saw the tree I knew that it was basically time to wait until the inevitable point that the arena was destroyed.  In effect, all the hinting and telegraphing zapped any possible suspense from the film for me.

 

And hell, it's a testament to the film that I still liked it.  But in the end, I found it to be an decent but flawed film that is being overrated by a pretty damn large margin.

 

IMO.

[Lordmandeep]

Thg ending was quite a surprise.. I did not see thar coming..Even so based on audience reactions..The scene where Katniss blows up the force field got the best audience reaction since puny God or the circle scene in the TA for me.

[Plain Old Tele]

I don't think my audience reacted once. To anything. It was weird.

Edited December 3, 2013 by Telemachos

[RobinHood26]

Massive improvement over the first one.

 

A

 

Glad to see you agreed, I was scared you wouldn't like it and my opinion would lose its weight! 

[dashrendar44]

While I agree, I do feel HG put Katniss in a handful of situations in which she seemed in peril or, at least, helpless. I didn't get that vibe at any point during CF.

 

 

As a HG's saga total neophyte, I got a very weird Matrix Reloaded's vibe watching the movie. Like none of what happened on screen once we reach the arena scenes really mattered. Just like Neo is invincible in the Matrix and the real battle happened outside the Matrix, in CF the real battle happens outside in District 13.

 

As a matter of fact, we thought Snow was The Architect but in fact Plutarch's character is both the real Architect and The Oracle playing dual with Katniss. In MR, The Architect told Neo that he was a variable element that has always been input in the Matrix as a scripted anomaly. (a pawn for the humans to believe into as a messianic savior to keep them in control one way or another, setting a balance, just like Hunger Games and Katniss are a distraction to keep Panem under control and never questioning Capitol's authority until Neo/Katniss chooses their own path not written in the plan).

 

Neo is told he was part of something that goes beyond his reach and field of comprehension. Neo is left speechless as we're trying to process those revelations and how all we've taken for granted in the Matrix part One is smashed to the ground.

 

That's what Katniss went through. She was a puppet, that Quarter Quell arena is smoke and mirror for diversion (1st part, pawn of the Capitol propaganda being carried around all the districts as Panem Idol, 2nd part pawn of the rebellion side aka the Mockingjay), for a greater cause without having any grasp and clues on things. The fact is that nothing happening in the arena really mattered because that was all part of Plutarch's plan and that plan (as he unfolded it at the end) implied she couldn't die in that self contained environment. All the interesting and significant stuff of that world (rebellion, District 13 destruction by the Capitol evil forces) was happening off-screen and felt disconnected as soon they entered the arena up until that Matrix Reloaded's ending cliffhanger where we're just left hanging on Katniss face.

 

Just like Neo vs endless goons inside the Matrix was not the point, the real battle is happening outside in Zion, fearing the sentinels sent by the Matrix to destroy it. (At least, the quest for the keymaker inside the Matrix was put in parrallel to events happening in Zion in a ticking bomb scenario whereas in CF we're stuck in the arena and never see what is happening outside in the "real world" Panem)

 

That's my main beef with the movie that kept me on a state of semi-lethargy as I was not as invested as I really wished to be (I like J-Law so much) because we're told Katniss didn't really risk anything as those 75th Hunger Games were totally set up and manipulated from the inside to get Katniss out alive while the real stakes were outside. I was quite let down by the fact Katniss was like a pool ball in an arena (just like I felt Neo was a programmed cypher in Matrix Reloaded being controlled unbeknowst to themselves so their acts are all scripted when they think they're acting free willingly and the higher stakes are elsewhere). There's a limit to a manipulated protagonist when you realize following the protagonist got no real centerpoint to further the big story. What's the point of keeping that much more interesting story off screen for pointless arena sequences?

 

The first one got stakes, Katniss is put in an arena to kill other children to survive, at the end, she stands and defies the rule. She is center as a protagonist that moves the plot forward. This one is like remaking the first but we're told the stakes are not playing and don't resolve inside the arena but outside, off-screen. She is a poor puppet of Plutarch and feels more passive reacting to a scripted plot. CF felt like a very long prologue with an hollow HG remake 1.5 to fill in before the real battle happening in Mockingjay.

Edited December 4, 2013 by dashrendar44

[Plain Old Tele]

That's a pretty astute analysis, Dash. I think one of the reasons why CF felt a bit flat towards the end is that the political issues outside the arena (to me) are much more interesting than the Games themselves. One thing I really wanted to see in both movies (and didn't get) was outside reaction to events within the Games. We're told how avidly everyone follows, but never actually see any of that at all. Especially given Plutarch's double-agent game-within-a-game, seems like it would've been really effective to see more of that play out.

[dashrendar44]

That's a pretty astute analysis, Dash. I think one of the reasons why CF felt a bit flat towards the end is that the political issues outside the arena (to me) are much more interesting than the Games themselves. One thing I really wanted to see in both movies (and didn't get) was outside reaction to events within the Games. We're told how avidly everyone follows, but never actually see any of that at all. Especially given Plutarch's double-agent game-within-a-game, seems like it would've been really effective to see more of that play out.

 

Exactly. I was baffled to see there were no cutting scenes into the "real world" districts as they react to the arena and rebel against the Capitol up until the destruction of District 13. In the movie, they hide all of this for a "twist" that relies only on Jennifer Lawrence's acting to sell it all when that major event happened off screen. I felt a total disconnection like everything is taken for granted once they enter the arena until the end. It was like our only grasp of the outside politics and effects on Panem was Hoffmann and Sutherland watching a monitor then ask their minions to turn buttons for the next scripted trial.

 

I wanted to see how Plutarch "plays" duality but people are really dying outside the arena in parrallel, how the stakes inside and outside are really intertwined.

Edited December 4, 2013 by dashrendar44

[cozmeesah]

They didn't hide that stuff for the twist. They hid it because it's supposed to be only what Katniss knows/sees. Just like the books. It's her POV. The few asides they added (Snow/Plutarch, Gale) were only because they were still directly about Katniss.I'm sure the responses will be along the lines of "well they are allowed to stray from the books & should've." Which is all well and good, but I'm just explaining why they did it that way.

[Plain Old Tele]

By that token, though, what I wanted were direct reactions to what Katniss is doing. How do people in the Capitol react, when they see her aim her now at the sky? What do they feel, when the poison gas almost gets her? What about Gale and/or her mother and sister? For all th effort that's spent talking about how important the Games and Tributes are, there's very little connection at all, especially once the Games start.

[Lordmandeep]

That may be nitpicking...

 

However doesn't the entire world watch the games including all the districts or only people in the capital do?