PLOT
Taking place right after the first film, "Catching Fire" picks up with Katniss and Peeta touring the districts after their dramatic win during the Hunger Games. While their win was was a way to survive in Katniss' eyes, the rest of the world saw it as a spark for rebellion against the capitol, including President Snow. He tells Katniss that if she does anything to further this rebellion idea during the tour, he will kill her family and friends. Now Katniss must deal with Snow's threats, keeping her relationship with Peeta looking real, and stopping revolts from breaking out in her name.
PROS
Jennifer Lawrence never ceases to amaze me. In every movie I see her in, I'm wowed by her performance, and "Catching Fire" is no exception. Luckily, she's not the only one doing a great job. Everyone gives their best and never falters.
President Snow, who was kinda of an afterthought in the last film, steps up and becomes a truly menacing villain. He's the kind of bad guy where he doesn't yell, he doesn't get angry, but that makes him even more terrifying. You don't know if he's actually happy with you, or if he's been planning to stab you in the back the moment you entered the room.
The romantic triangle plot is actually handled very well and never became boring. In the first film, the romance was there but never really explored. Here, they do a much better job with the whole thing.
Thankfully, the action scenes are actually visible this time! No more shaky cam crap, the action is there for all the see. While they still don't show most deaths, director Francis Lawrence hides these in more clever ways that never become distracting.
The special effects have greatly improved since the last film. It obvious a lot more money was put into the effects, and it pays off.
As you've probably guessed, there's another Hunger Games style tournament. Luckily, this one is different from the previous arena. The battleground has a unique gimmick to it that I won't spoil here, but it does add more death traps, many of which are quite scary.
The other players in this new Hunger Games are much more interesting then the previous contestants. These players are veterans of the Games and are more interesting to watch. My personal favorite is the tag team of Wiress and Beetee, two technologically inclined tributes who are very weird and very fun.
The cliffhanger ending of this film is spectacular, it rivals that of "The Empire Strike Back". It perfectly sets up the stakes, gets you excited and pumped-up, then cuts off at the perfect moment, leaving you angry yet ultimately excited for the next film.
CONS
We don't spend enough time with the other tributes in the Games, which means we never get to know anyone outside the core group. This is a shame, since a lot of them seemed to have interesting personalities are stories behind them.
CONCLUSION
When I walked out of "The Hunger Games" I thought "That was good, maybe I'll see the next one". When I walked out of "Catching Fire" I thought "WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG!!!!" This does what all great sequels have done before, improve on every aspect of the previous installment. I became more involved with the story, the characters, the world itself. I know understand why everyone and their mom loves this series, and now I'm one of them. If you've yet to try out this series, stick it through the first film, because at the end of it you get to see the greatness that is "Catching Fire"
RATING
RUN TO!!!
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