Based off of Suzanne Collin’s best selling series The Hunger Games, the second book of the trilogy Catching Fire, was released in theaters on November 22, 2013. This film has already won the 2014 People’s Choice Award of “Favorite Year-End Movie.”
The eccentric and lovable actors in the screenplay bring to life the disturbing dystopian world—outshining the characters in the novels. This rare phenomenon of a movie upstaging the book is credited to lead actress Jennifer Lawrence, who won the 2013 Saturn Award for her performance in The Hunger Games, and her supporting actors Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth.
The Washington Post says, “Even viewers who watch ‘Catching Fire’ unwillingly won’t be able to resist her gravitational pull, which in her case isn’t a function of conventional movie-star looks, but character and command presence.”
A better actress could not have been picked to play Katniss—the strong-minded and deeply compassionate heroine of the popular trilogy.
While Collins made up a “children killing children” world unlike any other in literature history, her description of the arena within the second book was almost too confusing to understand. But the visual of the “clock” like arena brought to life in the movie helped enlighten this perplexing setting. From the movie, one could finally fully understand the true image Collin described in her head.
Lastly, while the book dragged to almost a point of boredom, the movie was the opposite. After the opening scenes, the movie’s action continued to increasing climb. The scattered romance and humor lightened the gruesome plot and lessened the tension.
Overall, this movie not only outshined the first movie of the trilogy, but also it outshined the book itself. This movie was filled with action, tears, and romance—keeping the audience’s attention all the way up the cliffhanger ending.