This review may contain spoilers!
Alright I gotta say good things here because they did not stuff up my favourite book of the series. I give Hunger Games: Catching Fire a 7.5/10.
Alright well Catching Fire was always my favourite of the books and after the first Hunger Games film I was very nervous about what I could expect from this film. I am very glad to say that I think this will most assuredly be the best film of the saga. It had some very powerful imagery and scenes; and a very thrilling final act. The budget for this film was also much larger than the first Hunger Games and they used that increase to their advantage in what I consider to be a very downplayed yet realistic display of special effects prowess.
The casting in this was also perfect, I struggle to find much wrong with the casting here. Jennifer Lawrence once again was exemplary as Katniss, taking the leading lady role and owning it. Liam Hemsworth had a much bigger role as Gale in this film and he stepped up to that, bringing a lot of deep, dark anger which I found quite necessary and a very strong show of character development. Speaking of which, Elizabeth Banks as Effie was golden, an actress who truly loved and understood her role. Woody Harrelson as Haymitch in this was great because this time he had so much more personal ties to the main characters that I felt his pain very strongly when he was pushing Katniss and Peeta throughout. Willow Shields as Prim was great, she is another character really starting to come into her own; even displaying the first sparks of rebellious courage. Donald Sutherland as President Snow is just a great antagonist, the perfect politician full of veiled threats and schemes. I really liked Lenny Kravitz portrayal of Cinna also, it's such a subtle way to rebel against Snow but it's great to watch; he really is doing justice to my favourite character from the books. Philip Seymour Hoffman, in the new character Of Plutarch Heavensbee is just wonderful; he plays off of Sutherland well and really leaves the audience guessing as to what his role is in the grand scheme of things. Jeffrey Wright as Beetee was incredible, such a clever dialect but full of memory and resentment; he just brought a take on Beetee I wasn't expecting but loved all the same. Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair was another great addition to the cast, I don't think they could've gotten anyone better to play Finnick personally.
Despite all these wonderful displays of acting talent there were two that really stole the show for me. The first is my favourite from the first film and is quite possibly my favourite character; Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman. He brings a genuine level of wanton joy and banter to his role; he is a delight every second he's onscreen. Secondly Jena Malone as Johanna Mason just blew me away, she was rugged and feisty and became a character I believed had seen one Hunger Games and felt screwed over by going to do another one.
If I have any complaints about this film it's the pacing. This film had a long first and second act in a very similar fashion to the books and that just didn't translate completely well onscreen. I also felt the ending was a bit weak and abrupt; we didn't really need to see Katniss in District Thirteen and it didn't add much having her there. We should have instead learnt of twelve's destruction on the plane.
I still don't like Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. I don't buy him, I don't believe him and his mood never changes or develops. I dislike this actor's approach to the character and I think he weighs down what is an incredible franchise.
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