HUNGER GAMES: 2 CATCHING FIRE

SYNOPSIS – Katniss and Peeta find themselves used by the government and thrown into a new deadly Hunger Games . Follow-ups are always tricky things, reigniting an audience’s interest in characters they might not have seen for up to a year takes skill. Since the Hunger Games did such a good job of establishing strong characters, making use of strong performances, it would be a shame if the sequel fell short. Luckily director Gary Ross proves adept at picking up the story as though we, the audience, never left. The best sequels are those that raise the stakes and up the ante, many simply pretend to do this whilst in actual fact just change superficial things like location etc. Catching Fire takes our two protagonists and raises the stakes from their own personal survival to the fate of their families and entire district. Handily this also gives us a chance to see more of Panem, not only of the districts, but also of the vast Babylon-like Capitol. While taking about the look of the film I feel I should note a criticism that has been around since the first film. This is that the concept (a game show which features death) is not original and has in fact been done many times before (Battle Royale, The Running Man). Personally I don’t find this particularly damning,there are few concepts these days that are wholly original . Besides if you want to be picky about it the idea of youths being sacrificed to a large empire goes right the way back to Greek myth. Having similar elements does not mean that a film is somehow stealing another’s thunder and let’s be honest (eighties nostalgia aside) comparing the Running Man to the Hunger games is ridiculous. While the film sports a strong script and distinct visuals I think it’s the performances that are Catching Fire’s real ace in the hole. Jennifer Lawrence gives a (forgive the pun) performance that burns with intensity, and yet conveys how helpless her character feels in the march of events. Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) gets to bring out more of his characters cynicism without feeling like a different person. Even minor characters like Effe (Elisabeth Banks) get development, and so no one simply phone in the same performance. There are some problems with a few of the new characters; they feel a little like cannon fodder with no other purpose but to fill the death tally. You find yourself focusing on the two main leads and find yourself caring little for the other players (though I must stress this is not the fault of the performers). FINAL VERDICT 8/10 – Continuing the characters journey with a solid script and great performances.