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Last
time we saw them, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mallark (Josh
Hutcherson) narrowly escaped what was supposed to be certain death and emerged
as the heroes of the Hunger Games. They became the darlings of the games with their
semi-maybe-feigned romance, while at the same time thoroughly pissing off the
powers that be—President Snow (Donald Sutherland), in particular—with the way
they won the games. They were defiant. They were not willing to turn against
each other. They refused to be pawns in the Capital’s manipulation game.
That’s
where we left off. And, to a certain extent, when “The Hunger Games: Catching
Fire” picks up, not a whole lot has changed. Katniss and Peeta are still crowd
favorites. Everybody is still in love with them. And they are still pretending
to be in love with each other. But, behind the scenes, President Snow is still
on edge about the fact that many of those under the thumb of the Capital see
Katniss and Peeta as revolutionary figures—as symbols of hope and rebellion.
Snow
wants to find a way to dispose of Katniss and Peeta, but he has to do it
without firing up the masses. So he, along with the new head gamemaker,
Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), comes up with a brilliant plan to
do just that. The idea is to shake up the upcoming Hunger Games with a twist:
This time the tributes are to be chosen from among the past winners. You see,
usually when someone wins the Hunger Games, he or she gets to just sit back,
relax, and cruise through the rest of life like some kind of conquering hero
who never has to lift a finger ever again.
Not
this time. This time the champions have to reenter the arena. This serves two
purposes. First, President Snow gets to ratchet up the fear even more. Now the
past champions aren’t even safe. How awful! Second, President Snow gets to put
Katniss and Peeta back in harm’s way. Once again, these heroic lovebirds have
to fight for their lives. How tragic! But how entertaining!
Katniss
and Peeta aren’t thrilled, of course. In fact, most of the former champions are
less than enthusiastic about having to do it all over again. President Snow is
trying his best to keep everyone under control. But discontentment is brewing
under the surface.
As
for Katniss and Peeta, they are thrown back into the arena very distressed and
very overwhelmed. They do not know what to do. They are not sure whether they
are all alone or whether something is going on in the background that might
tilt the balance in their favor. At any rate, their margin for error is, once
again, razor thin.
I
like the first “Hunger Games” book better than the second. And the same goes
for the movies. The first “Hunger Games” is innovative, interesting, and
clever. The whole premise is novel and thought provoking. This second
movie—“Hunger Games: Catching Fire”—does not have that added punch. Maybe that
is just how things work with sequels like this. But there is nothing particularly
innovative or intriguing here.
Still,
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” is definitely a good movie. And it is
definitely a worthy adaptation of the novel. The acting is quite good. The
cinematography, set design, and costumes are impressive. And the occasional
plot twists, along with the magnetic energy of the characters, are more than
enough to keep one’s attention.
It
would have been nice if this series kept pushing the envelope, and kept
developing the themes introduced in the first installment, and kept finding new
ways to draw our attention to the various facets of the characters and their
environment. But all of that super interesting stuff is front-loaded. It is
there from the start. It came in last time. So the rest of story feels much
more like a straight-up action/adventure drama. There isn’t necessarily
anything wrong with that.
That
is, unless you were hoping for more.
