The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Published 2014-03-26
Film info
- Title The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
- Director Francis Lawrence
- Year 2013
- Run time 2hr 26m
- Genres Action, Science Fiction, Adventure
- Tagline Every revolution begins with a spark
- Cast Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones
Katniss and Peeta embark on a victory tour while President Snow plots a deadly new Hunger Games that could change Panem forever.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 3:52 | Can't believe I don't remember mini Hemsworth from the first one. |
| 5:36 | "You are a strangely dislikeable person." |
| 6:45 | What is that screen, I need one! |
| 14:45 | Also loving the train. I know this world sucks, but I want to live there! |
| 17:27 | The tour thing sounds like a crazy idea. Celebrate the people that killed yours. |
| 30:14 | Could never get used to such wacky fashions. Effie's collar is enormous! |
| 33:04 | "Fear does not work as long as they have hope." |
| 39:07 | The Peacekeepers are so wrongly named. |
| 47:12 | This Capitol is all kinds of dastardly. I've read it and I know, but it's still a shock. |
| 54:27 | One problem with the concept of the Hunger Games as a whole is the sheer number of tributes required. Impossible to remember and distinguish them all. |
| 57:13 | "Everyone seems to know my secrets before I know them myself." |
| 1:01:58 | These tributes are terrifying. |
| 1:05:33 | That archery training thing is fabulous. Add that to the want list. |
| 1:15:07 | Lenny Kravitz is good at what he does. |
| 1:26:39 | It's awful really, cos they could all just not do it. But you can't risk not doing it. |
| 1:41:45 | Eek, terrifying monkeys. |
| 1:47:30 | Smoke monster! |
| 1:51:38 | He has some wire and he knows where lightning is going to strike. I do hope they go back in time. |
| 1:56:28 | "You can't put everyone in here." |
| 2:04:08 | Clearly, he means gigawatts. |
| 2:11:27 | Somebody definitely broke that. |
Thoughts
It was a surprise to me that Mr C enjoyed the first Hunger Games movie quite as much as he did, considering I was the one who had read the books and was curious about the content.
He was looking forward to the sequel too, and I could only remember half of what had happened in the book, so we were both keen to watch this as soon as it was available on iTunes.
What I found interesting was how similar it was to the first book, kids are in severe poverty, chosen for games, go through the games, and yet not at all boring. There's an underlying current of threat throughout this film that adds to the sheer torment of the games, and helps steer the story to its conclusion.
Well, I say conclusion. It's frustrating to have a film end as it did. Clearly this is part of a series of films, and there's more to come, but it was quite the abrupt finish and I do wonder if film is the right medium to have the cliffhanger ending in that way.
There were some elements of the final few scenes that confused us, so I went back to the books to confirm some of the "facts". It was reassuring to see how closely the film resembled the book, even with the exact same dialogue and actions in places. The book also has the same cliffhanger, so at least it is consistent.
Overall, a good film, bordering on slightly too long, but action-packed and engrossing throughout.
Rating: 5 / 5