Film Not once did I encounter a dull moment in this mix of action, dark satire, dystopia and character building
Catching Fire was consistently entertaining from beginning to end, which is something I can almost never say about any work of fiction. Everything has its down moments, but not this. Whether it was character moments, worldbuilding, the games itself, the politics surrounding them, I was never bored for even a moment.
What I liked most of the first movie was actually the Hunger Games itself. The forest/mountain setting and hunting theme held far more appeal to me than the main story surrounding it - how the Games (of teenagers taken from the districts and forced to fight to the death) are a means of controlling the population, how the government uses Bread and Circuses to distract people from their crappy lives, the sheer difference between the gaudy rich and oppressed poor. So I wasn't that interested in the first half of the first movie, but really liked the second half.
Here, though, with the growing rebellion, the government creates a new Hunger Games with modified rules solely to put Katniss (who has become an icon of rebellion) into the games with the hopes of killing her and/or forcing her to engage in morally questionable behavior so that she will lose support. Katniss never asked to become an icon, a symbol of a cause that she supports but can't actually lead. In a way, the heroes, not just the villains, are creating an artificial reality. The villains create all the pomp and circumstance surrounding the Hunger Games, while the heroes turn Katniss into some kind of messiah figure when in reality, she's simply a champion who just happens to have morals and a bit of a spine against the government.
As a result, this time around I found the politics and worldbuilding compelling. I was interested in the oppression, the rebellion, and the sheer fakeness of the Hunger Games, where the fighters put on a show for the audience while trying to undermine the government's control.
It's been said that the author of the books intended the Hunger Games to be a dark satire on reality TV and just how trashy it is. Indeed, while satire is not necessarily humor, I laughed several times at how the protagonists intentionally play to the camera, while trying to stay alive and secretly build their rebellion.
Despite the lack of actual Hunger Games it will contain, I'm eagerly looking forward to the sequel.
Film Good production, questionable plot [spoilers]
Let it first be said this reviewer has not read the books but has seen the first film and was intrigued by it. The sequel film was well made - decent acting, good production values, but the ending...
Spoilers follow.
Essentially, after the first film, Katniss Everdeen has become a symbol of defiance, as she was able to force the Game to have two winners, rather than the required one. This film shows the subsequent events - political pressure on her to conform to the Capitol's expectations, threats, a building rebellion looking to her for guidance, and general commentary on pop-culture icons and how much is a facade.
To kill her in a method that reaffirms the Capitol, Katniss and Peeta are thrown back in for a special-edition Hunger Games. (A note - either the last 24 games produced almost exactly 1 male and 1 female victor from each of the 12 Districts [highly unlikely] or this Quarter Quell had different rules than the last Quarter Quell) There isn't as much focus on the training for the Games, that was covered in the last film, rather more on the strategizing of both hero and villain against the changing political landscape.
The Game commences and, while not easy, Katniss is again able to subvert the Game and is rescued by a growing resistance movement. This is where everything gets questionable.
As it turns out, Katniss had an army of people interested in her survival. A full half of the Game's participants were working for her survival along with the Game's designer. As such, Katniss' survival is all but guaranteed. Oh, she has some struggles, but not as many as there could have been.
One of this reviewer's complaints about the first film was that Katniss has no major ethical dilemmas, particularly in the Game. Every likeable or nice character is either killed by complete monsters or simply killed off-screen. Never is there a moment of "I like you, but I need to survive, so we must fight", instead she only faced people enthusiastic about the killing, people easy to wish dead.
Here, she's a passive participant in her own story, a spectator. Events around her work to support her. Perhaps that's how the book went, but it felt like the movie itself was about the changing world, not any conflict of character, never pro-active just re-active - leaving this reviewer wondering "what was the point"?
Film They don't make films like this
So firstly the consumer advice, if you didn't like the first film, then the chances are this one won't change your mind. If you did like the first film then you're probably going to enjoy this one even more. If you haven't seen the first film, go and watch that one, the plot relies on people knowing and caring about the events in the first and doesn't waste time reestablishing those links. Finally, if you're not committed to seeing all the films do not watch this one. This is no conclusion, it's events building up and other events spiralling out of control.
That out of the way, I loved this film. They don't make blockbuster films so unconcerned with making the audience feel good. This is a story about the shallowness of celebrity culture, the dangers of living in the first world and remaining oblivious to what's outside of it and how people are affected going through the hardest situations. Finally, it's a film about waking up and taking action. But it remains absolutely committed to events progressing how they should progress instead of how they should go in stories. Katniss isn't a hero, she's not the brilliant leader of a revolution, but like so many revolutions before, in many ways it's not what matters. What matters is what people believe and that they have something to believe in to give them the hope that if they fight, it might not be for nothing.
With the intro out of the way Catching Fire ups the intensity. Suddenly the capital is having it's own heroes threatened and the people don't like it and aren't used to experiencing these feelings. Everyone dreads the games and they're fighting with the weapons they have as dirtily as they can. Katniss and Peeta are trying to maintain their facade as the world falls apart around them and rebellion and repression springs up around them. Everyone has motives and this time it's harder to tell what people are up to and what they're going to be doing next.
The acting is all incredible as it was before and the new guys don't disappoint. The effects have improved considerably (the fire scene doesn't suck this time). But Gale is still out of place, especially considering how the film mocks hollywood romances.
And most of all this is being aimed at teens and young adults. The difference is between this and Twilight and even the (very fun) superhero stuff is kind of crazy