When the first trailer promoting The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was released, the 2-minute graphic exceptionally captured the intensity of the 75th Annual Hunger Games, aka the “Quarter Quell.” If the trailer was enough to send fans into a frenzy, how mind-blowing would a 2-hour long movie be?
That very compelling question was answered on November 22, 2013, when the PG-13 sci-fi adventure film was released. The answer: unfathomably perfect.
Francis Lawrence, Catching Fire’s talented director, was originally faced with the problem of having to recap what went on in the first Hunger Games movie. Lawrence neatly and impressively kept the audience from becoming confused if they hadn’t seen the first movie, but never got carried away in summarizing.
Many believed that Gary Ross, director of The Hunger Games, hadn’t been able to find the right balance between what happened in and out of the arena. It was agreed upon that Lawrence focused on the key elements and didn’t linger on unnecessary details.
For example, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) have a very complicated and intricate relationship. Peeta is in love with Katniss and has been since the first time he saw her. Katniss acts like she’s in love with Peeta to make them more appealing to the Capitol and the general public, but she’s grows more attracted to her long-time friend, Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth). Gale is a bit jealous of Peeta, yet Katniss does everything in her power to protect Peeta.
All of that was explained in the first movie and it seemed nearly impossible to keep new viewers in the loop about the love triangle without losing the main focus of the story, which was more political than truly romantic. There are many directors and scriptwriters that would carelessly entwine Katniss’ past and confuse the audience, but Francis Lawrence and the Catching Fire crew never completely lost sight of their original intentions. In fact, Lawrence found a way to create his own genius form of The Hunger Games world, but stayed true to Suzanne Collins’ vision.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was a major box office success and critically acclaimed. The movie has been greatly recommended by a variety of prestigious critics. To get the full experience of the movie, it might be wise to read the books first.
