The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Movie Title--  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Release Year--  2013

Running Time--  2 Hours and 6 Minutes

Director-- Francis Lawrence

Cast--  Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Paula Malcomson, Willow Shields, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Phillip Seymour Hoffman

After the joint win by Katiness Everdeen and Peeta Mellark during the 74th annual Hunger Games causes rebellion to spark across the Districts, the Capital targets them to try to stop the uprising.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) return to their homes in Distrtict 12 after their joint win during the 74th annual Hunger Games.  Katniss is in the woods hunting when Gale Hawthorn (Liam Hemsworth) arrives, startling her.  He tells her that he saw some turkeys as he was coming up to where she was and the two of them leave to hunt the turkeys.  She draws her bow to kill one and has a flashback, freaking herself out.  Gale gets her calmed and the two of them decide it is time to head for home.

As they are walking, Katniss asks Gale if he is going to see her off at the train station before she leaves for a victor's tour of the Districts.  Gale insists that it may seem a little crowded if he is there, alluding to what happened between Katniss and Peeta after winning the games.  This causes Katniss to insist to him that everything she did with Peeta was just an act for the camera.  Katniss tells Gale that Peeta means nothing to her and Gale admits that it didn't feel that way, then leans down and kisses her, stating that it may be the only chance he gets.

Katniss then walks alone to "Victor's Village" where the champions are moved into after winning the games and she goes to get Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), their mentor, ready for the arrival of the cameras that are coming that evening.  Peeta is there and the air between them is very cold and Haymitch tells them that before the cameras arrive they need to become a little more friendly toward each other.

When Katniss returns home, her mother (Paula Malcomson) is anxiously waiting for her to arrive but her sister Prim (Willow Shields) steps up and tells her that she has a visitor waiting for her.  Katniss is taken in front of President Snow (Donald Sutherland) who has come to tell her that while she is on tour with Peeta, she must make him believe that her and Peeta are madly in love.  He goes on to say that because of their act during the games where some people saw it as an act of love, others across all the Districts saw it as an act of defiance and it has caused rebellions across the Districts.  President Snow then goes on to threaten her family if she does not do what is asked of her.

Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) arrives with Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) to get her ready for the trip.  Once on the train, Effie says something that offends Katniss and when she storms off, Peeta follows her, telling her that he can not take acting like they are in love for the camera but living in silence together and encourages her to tell him something about herself.  

Their first stop is a disaster as they do not stick to the speeches that Effie has prepared and they are then warned by Haymitch that they need to start doing what is told of them, reading the cards and acting like they care for each other instead of acting like they are acting.  Before the last stop at President Snow's mansion, they come up with a plan to get engaged to be married since Haymitch has already told them that they will have to keep up with this act for the rest of their lives and Katniss and Peeta hope that it satisfies President Snow.

On the train ride home, Katniss is wandering the halls in the night and comes across a control room where the operators are watching videos of rebellions in the Districts.  Once they arrive home, Katniss goes straight to Gale and asks him to run away with him but he says he can not and explains that people are looking to her as a symbol of hope but she shows her disdain for this notion, saying she does not want anyone looking to her.

The two of the witness the Peacekeepers coming into town.  Upon their arrival, they begin tearing up people's homes and going through their belongings.  Gale tackles the new commander before he can deliver a beating to an older woman and is punished for it by being taken to the square and being whipped for it.  Katniss steps in to protect Gale and gets a whip herself, marking her face before Haymitch and eventually Peeta steps in to stop it.

After seeing this, President Snow feels the only thing he can do to stop the champions of District 12 from becoming a bigger problem is to kill them, so he decides that 75th annual Hunger Games, known as the 3rd Quarter Quell will be special and that only the victors from the past Hunger Games will be chosen to compete in this year's games.  Upon hearing this, Katniss realizes that Peeta must stay alive and employs Haymitch to help her, help Peeta.  Before the reaping, Gale says to Katniss that he should have said yes when she asked him to run away and she goes on to tell him that it is too late to turn back now.  During the reaping, Katniss and Haymitch's names are called and Peeta immediately steps up to volunteer for Haymitch making Katniss and Peeta the Tributes for District 12 again.

Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch arrive at the Capital escorted by Effie to a brand new facility built for the Tributes, as well as a brand new arena.  Haymitch tells the two of them that the other competitors are Capital favorites and in order to win the games, they will have to make allies with some of them.  This is a problem for Katniss but she agrees to try to make it work for Peeta's sake.  Once again, they are placed in the back of a chariot and paraded past President Snow for the presentation of the Tributes in which they keep an air of defiance to their posture and again, their costumes catch fire, wowing the crowd.

Katniss and Peeta are then sent to train where she meets Wireless (Amanda Plummer) and Beetee (Jeffery Wright) from District 3 and Mags (Lynn Cohen), Finnick Odair's (Sam Claffin) counterpart from District 4 and decides that she wants them for her allies.  All the Tributes are then sent in for their individual assessments where they are given ten minutes to present the skill of their choice to a panel of judges.  When it is Katniss' turn, after seeing a mural of Rue on the floor, she pains a dummy to look like Seneca Crane and hangs it from a rafter, bowing as she walks out.  That night Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) hosts all the Tributes as they speak to the crowd one last time.  Every Tribute that is presented expresses their anger and feelings toward having to compete, trying to get the games called off.

When Cinna dresses Katniss, he tells her that President Snow insisted that she wear a wedding gown since her and Peeta's marriage had to be called off due to the games but Cinna tells her to twirl at the end of her interview.  When Katniss meets Caesar he asks her if the dress she is wearing would have been the one she was to wear for her wedding and she tells him yes.  He asks her to take a twirl and when she does, the bottom once again bursts into flame but this time the white gown burns away to reveal a black dress with wings to resemble the mockingjay.  When Peeta comes out, he tells Caesar that he and Katniss actually got married in secret and he would have no regrets if not for the baby which enrages the crowd.  Peeta then embraces Katniss and all the Tributes join hands to show that they are united in protesting the games.  Haymitch tells Peeta that the bomb being dropped about a baby was a good tactic but it did not get the games canceled.

The next day, Cinna accompanies Katniss to her position, pining her gold mockingjay pin on her arm and giving her some last advice before sealing her in her tube.  Once the door is closed, the Peacekeepers come in and brutally beat Cinna and drag him from the room in front of her as she is raised into the arena to compete for her life.

I enjoyed this film as much as the first, if not better.  When it comes to this film, let's just say the Hunger Games just happened to grow up a little.  The mood of this film is much darker than the first (how do you get darker than children killing children you say?  You have to watch for yourself to see) and every where you turn, you see the signs of a coming revolution.  It as if subliminally you are seeing that no matter what happens, war is coming and it is not going to be good for anyone involved.

This film sees the love triangle that is alluded to in the first film becoming a little clearer, with Gale's jealousy over Katniss and Peeta's pretend relationship being something that obviously impacts his and Katniss' relationship.  As the film goes on, you see how deeply she feels about Gale and Peeta, although it is obviously not the same feelings for both.  Jenifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson do a great job of leading this film.  They give a believable performance while still guiding the story in a way that keeps the whole film from being overrun with lovey-dovey type emotions.  

Lawrence and Hutcherson did just as good together on screen in this film as they did in the last, if not better and although Hemsworth had more screen time in this film than the last one, it still didn't seem like enough for me.  I really can't wait to see how he does in the upcoming film.  

I would recommend this film to anyone that asks about it.  It really is worth the watch.  If you have already seen this film, I suggest you refresh yourself before the release of the newest installment "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" coming to theaters this Friday and Don't Forget the Popcorn!