The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the latest film by acclaimed director Francis Lawrence. Responsible for such movies like I Am Legend starring Will Smith and Constantine starring Keanu Reeves, Francis Lawrence has proven to be an imaginative director which is just what the Hunger Games movies needed. Francis did an amazing job and because of that I give Catching Fire four buckets of Killer Korn.












From the very first shot you can see this installment of the Hunger Game series is a far better looking movie than the first movie. Whereas the first movie looked like a made for TV movie, Catching Fire was framed and captured like a movie with scope. The producers must have felt the same way after seeing The Hunger Games because they fired the director of that film, Gary Ross and replaced him with Francis Lawrence. A move that I felt was a master stroke. While Gary's previous films were good (see Seabiscuit and Pleasantville) , The Hunger Games was completely out of his realm of comfort and the movie came across that way. Enter Francis Lawrence, a director who seems to be at his most comfortable with source material like this. He raised the bar on this film but thankfully he is currently filming the next installments to this franchise so there won't be another director having to step into Lawrence's big shoes.

Starring the Oscar Award winning Jennifer Lawrence reprising her role as the tough, defiant, yet somewhat sensitive Katniss Everdeen, Catching Fire put Katniss right back into the arena to fight for her life yet again. This was done by decree of President Snow, played charmingly again by Donald Sutherland (I still think he's horribly miscast for this role but, he plays it better this time around than in the first movie). Going back into the arena with her again of course is Peeta Mellark, played much better this time by Josh Hutcherson. Liam Hemsworth plays Gale, Woody Harrelson plays Haymitch, Elizabeth Banks plays Effie, Lenny Kravitz plays Cinna, and Stanley Tucci let's it all go as Caesar Flickerman. The cast from the first film basically remained intact except for a few major upgrades. This time around Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amanda Plummer, Sam Clafin, Lynn Cohen, Jena Malone, and the amazing Jeffrey Wright join in on the fun. Honestly, for a movie based on a book that's aimed at young adults, this is one hell of an impressive cast.

Shot entirely in Georgia, Catching Fire is a beautiful film to look at. Photographed by cinematographer Jo Willems, Catching Fire was fun for the eyes. From the way the camera hovered over the actors as they made there way through the arena to immersing us dizzyingly under water, Jo brought you into the arena alongside Katniss and Peeta. My only issue with this movie was the score. Once again scored blandly by James Newton Howard, the music is utterly forgettable. I don't know why the producers or the studio, whoever it was that sent Gary Ross packing didn't do the same for James. His score for The Hunger Games was yawn inspiring and yet they allowed him to score this installment. I feel that was a huge mistake and a missed opportunity to make this film better all around. I suppose they kept James on so there would be some continuity between the movies, which is understandable but the score was so weak they could have gone with someone better. Nevertheless, Catching Fire is without a doubt a most impressive film and I highly recommend it. I'll see you at the theater.