The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
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Critics Consensus: Smart, smoothly directed, and enriched with a deeper exploration of the franchise's thought-provoking themes, Catching Fire proves a thoroughly compelling second installment in the Hunger Games series.
Critics Consensus: Smart, smoothly directed, and enriched with a deeper exploration of the franchise's thought-provoking themes, Catching Fire proves a thoroughly compelling second installment in the Hunger Games series.
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THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE begins as Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a "Victor's Tour" of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) - a competition that … More- Rating:
- PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, some frightening images, thematic elements, a suggestive situation and language)
- Genre:
- Action & Adventure , Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Directed By:
- Francis Lawrence
- Written By:
- Michael Arndt , Suzanne Collins , Simon Beaufoy
- In Theaters:
- Nov 22, 2013 Wide
- On DVD:
- Mar 7, 2014
- US Box Office:
- $424.6M
Cast
-
Jennifer Lawrence
as Katniss Everdeen -
Josh Hutcherson
as Peeta Mellark -
Liam Hemsworth
as Gale Hawthorne -
Elizabeth Banks
as Effie Trinket -
Stanley Tucci
as Caesar Flickerman -
Woody Harrelson
as Haymitch Abernathy
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Critic Reviews for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
All Critics (245) | Top Critics (52) | Fresh (218) | Rotten (27) | DVD (2)
This is Empire Strikes Back stuff. It has that second Star Wars movie's kick of confidence.
Director Francis Lawrence's film runs nearly two-and-a-half hours but it concludes so abruptly and tantalizingly, it leaves you wanting more.
The budget is nearly twice the original, and it shows. Great work from the A-list cast, amazing set designs and costumes.
Now the violence is not merely physical, but existential. Far from having won her freedom as promised, Katniss is now imprisoned in a false public narrative-supporter of the Capitol, lover of Peeta-from which she may never escape.
Catching Fire delivers on the grim, roiling promises of the original.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire takes the narrative and thematic liberties traditionally granted the middle chapter in a trilogy and drives the stakes up sharply.
Though overlong at 146 minutes, Catching Fire retains the original's curiously-engaging mix of The Running Man, Spartacus, Ben Hur, Avatar and Rambo.
Lawrence is the rare female action-movie lead who carries on the fierce tradition of Sigourney Weaver in the Alien franchise -- easily the best and most enduring "special effect" this movie juggernaut has to offer eager audiences.
The main thing that stayed with me on the trip home after seeing the film was the characters themselves, who are believably vulnerable, resourceful, devious and empathetic as the story demands.
There's no Disneyfication; Catching Fire has a distinct look and sustained dark, gritty mood.
It's an exciting watch and even slicker than the first film.
There's a depressing irony to the fact that The Hunger Games, a book series about the media's ability to placate the masses with superficial distractions, is now a mainstream film franchise that has spawned its own cult of celebrity.
As long as fully formed products like Catching Fire keep coming, the odds will be in The Hunger Games' favor to continue being celebrated as the definitive popular moral tale of the early 2000s.
By far the film's greatest asset is Jennifer Lawrence, who again brings absolute emotional conviction to her haunted and conflicted heroine.
More (and better) Hunger Games
Lighter on action and futuristic visuals, Catching Fire is superior to the first film by virtue of notable performances and more compelling storyline. If the quality of the filmmaking continues into Mockingjay, I'll be thrilled to see how it ends.
As a long-time leftist, I expected something like "Norma Rae". It was much more Harry Potter or Twilight.
It is heartening to find a teen-oriented movie franchise as gritty as The Hunger Games. Even so, Catching Fire remains contradictory, caught in some nether world between nightmarish political allegory and adolescent escapism.
Sharp as a flaming arrow and as explosive as when one hits a powderkeg, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the rousing, thought-provoking action epic the first movie failed to be.
The Games sequences, while familiar from the first film, push the story towards a thrilling cliffhanger climax.
The movie is a solid example of "the book on film" in spirit, and Lawrence is brilliant in a performance far beyond blockbuster-level acting.
The screenplay is terrific, with welcome shafts of wit.
Self-knowing, cynical, and urgently melodramatic, the Hunger Games and The Hunger Games indict you for watching it even as it asks you to buy in. And that is the genius of every iteration of the Games no one can ever win.
benefits from the impressive acting chops of Jennifer Lawrence, whose intensity and sense of self makes Katniss into a prototypical action heroine who embodies an ideal set of values but still stays psychologically and emotionally grounded.
Though flawed, Catching Fire manages something no adaptation since Harry Potter has: It respects its fans enough to challenge them while maturing alongside them.
Audience Reviews for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
I'm afraid I still don't get what all the fuss is about. A plethora of great actors but with no really good performance. I liked the political side of the story but I preferred it when it was originally conceived in George Orwell's 1984. It makes me worried that kids are reading Suzanne Collins's books over Orwell's, when they are poor imitations. I'm not knocking The Hunger Games but compared to Orwell they are inferior in every way and that is the truth kids. This sequel is a long winded copy of the first film which in turn was a copy of Battle Royale. Catching Fire is a much better film than Battle Royale II and is far more interesting than the first Hunger Games film but it does not deserve the praise it has received. It's watchable, even enjoyable to a certain extent but I very much doubt I will watch it ever again and really can't see it as a future classic. Read older books kids!
http://cinephilecrocodile.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-hunger-games-catching-fire-dir.html
Super Reviewer
Catching Fire is not only better than its predecessor in every way, it's a sure fire sci-fi masterpiece. There are great ideas here about hope, fear, heroic figures, symbols, and government control, all of which are explored to the fullest. Great characters, great action, great narrative. One of the best films of 2013.
MoreSuper Reviewer
I watched the first film without having read the books, but I read them after I loved that movie. Suffice to say it obviously is not as epic if you already know where the story is going, but even still this is an incredibly well made adaptation of the book. All of the actors fit their parts well and the special effects have been given a boost (one of my few complaints of the first film). It didn't give me that same feeling I had when I was watching the first and being introduced to this world, but I expected that. This one delves deeper into the story and characters than the first did, but it didn't have the visceral style I liked so much from the first. This one was more blockbuster film, but it comes with the territory since the first one did so well at the box office. I'm definitely looking forward to the adaptations of the final book.
MoreSuper Reviewer
It is better than the first in every way possible. Catching Fire is a darker and more powerful entry in the series. And as far as sequels to young adult fiction movies go, it is almost unparalleled.
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Super Reviewer
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Quotes
- Katniss Everdeen:
- Any last advice?
- Haymitch Abernathy:
- Stay alive.
- Haymitch Abernathy:
- Stay alive.
- Johanna Mason:
- Ugh. My stylist is such an idiot. I'd love to put my axe in her face.
- Katniss Everdeen:
- I just wanted to say that I didn't know Tresh, I only spoke to him once. He could have killed me, but instead he showed me mercy. That's a debt I'll never be able to repay. I did know Rue. She wasn't just my ally, she was my friend. I see her in the flowers that grow in the meadow by my house. I hear her in the Mockingjay song. I see her in my sister Prim. She was too young, too gentle and I couldn't save her. I'm sorry.
- Katniss Everdeen:
- Any last advice?
- Haymitch Abernathy:
- Stay alive.
- Johanna Mason:
- Everybody wants to sleep with you.
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