Friday, December 27, 2013

Movie Review: Catching Fire

Movie Review: Catching Fire

Rated PG-13
146 minutes
Directed by Francis Lawrence

Catching Fire isn't groundbreaking. It essentially repeats the first one in some instances. However, and this is a big however, Catching Fire is a lot of fun. It's exciting, it's fast-paced, and it feels like an event. I only felt the running time once, and that was near the end. It had me hooked, almost never leaving me thinking that I should check a watch or go to the bathroom for a break. It was a lot of fun.



Going into more depth about Catching Fire, the performances were really good. Elizabeth Banks displays such a level of being beneath everyone of District 12, but when she has her subtly emotional scene, you believe it instantly. Stanley Tucci is also great as Caesar Flickman, as he tries to reign in the victors, even though he doesn't exactly know how, based on simple facial expressions. Woody Harrelson has to do the same old schtick again, because his character became an alcoholic again after seemingly fixing his problem in the last movie. Nevertheless, Harrelson's schtick is a good schtick. Jennifer Lawrence displays a strong-minded fragility to Katniss in this movie, that you can't forget about. The rest of the cast is very strong as well, and I would have little tidbits about all of them if there weren't so many.

It is a technical step up, with a wide array of flashy costumes that work. I do really like the score of these films, as they are rousing and rather epic. The visual effects are great step up from the first film, even though they could've been even better. And the production design was very good, especially considering they transformed Atlanta into these desolate places. Also, shaky cam was non-existent, so that's worth a gold star right there.

Of course, there are some flaws. One huge one is the fog scene. There is a poisonous fog that is apparently super deadly. Katniss is all like "LOL, Imma touch it." She gets infected, as well as the rest of her little posse. The fog is all like, "We're gonna get you suckas." However, when a dramatic moment happens, the fog is so nice that it decides to stop for 30 seconds in order for the dramatic moment to continue. After it's done, a huge level of convenience happens that I won't get into. District 12 looks completely different from how it looked on the first film. A bad actor in the film was actually Phillip Seymour Hoffman. He seemed so bored in this film.

Another thing holding this film back is that I don't know how well it will hold up. I really liked the first film, but when it got out on DVD, it got significantly worse. Considering that this movie could be seen as somewhat of the same thing over again. I do hope it holds up better, though.

All in all, it was a great theater experience. It was so fun, action-packed, and has good social commentary, some of which could be drawn back to Ancient China. Check it out, just don't expect it to be amazing. Just get the good time required out of it.

3/5

B-

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