The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Country: USA

Movie Review: The second part of The Hunger Games trilogy, “Catching Fire”, was directed by former music video director Francis Lawrence, giving continuity to the adventures of dauntless Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) who keeps fighting for her life. As winners of the 74th Hunger Games, she and her friend Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), abandoned their homes to take the Victor’s Tour of the districts, eventually falling in the hands of President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and Heavensbee (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), the head behind the games, who trap them with the preparations of a special 25-year event named Quarter Quell. “Catching Fire” is slightly better than the previous one, as it is more substantial. The story was well thought and had its good moments, although the last part (the games themselves) was the weaker section, still presenting clichés and artifacts, which create the well-known situations of danger and suspense with occasional bustling, where the special effects oscillate between acceptable and ignorable. This time, the participants’ goal was simply try to survive rather than competing with one another, and this change of strategy brought beneficial results, along with the unexpected final revelations that left everything in suspension until the last part of the saga is created. Definitely not a must, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”, despite its conventional patterns, is a watchable blockbuster.