December 1, 2013

Catching Fire



The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, 2013. A teenage girl is an unwilling symbol of rebellion against a dystopian government.

Directed by Francis Lawrence. Written by Simon Beaufoy & Michael Arndt, based on a book by Suzanne Collins. Starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great). My big complaint about the first movie was that once they got in all the necessary plot stuff, there wasn't any room for trauma or character development. Boy howdy is that made up for in this film. They're clearly seeing the character arc as taking place over the course of the entire series, and in retrospect, what they did in the first movie was probably the right way to handle Act I.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). It's a bit of a downer, by its nature. And it doesn't have as much action or excitement as the rest of the series. But I don't think they could have done any better adapting this book. It's rare that I enjoy a movie based on a book I've read, so for me to feel this strongly positive, about a movie based on a book I loved, is pretty damn impressive.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.4/4 (Very good)

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