The Hunger Games – Catching Fire (A Movie Review)

Β (Beta) Fantastic movie within the genre

Alright, I’m off and traveling, so I thought I’d do a quickie review of The Hunger Games – Catching Fire.  In essence, I can sum it up by saying I loved it and that the movie version of the book kept all the parts I liked, and dumped the bits that I felt didn’t work.

In particular, it treated the viewers with a bit more respect than the novel treated the readers.  It dropped clues at important places, but unlike the book, didn’t hit you over the head with them. In fact, I almost feared the plot bits were too subtle, but my wife (who hasn’t read the books) picked up on them with no trouble… but only after the reveal at the end.

Now, I should say, I did like the book (see my review), but thought it was by far the weakest of the three novels in the series.  In contrast, the movie version was a significant improvement on the first film (which I loved). Indeed, I almost thought it was an alpha, but… not quite.

In addition to a brilliantly adapted script and excellent directing, one cannot help admire the acting that was demonstrated in this movie.  Everyone… I mean everyone – even the bit players – did a wonderful job bringing their characters to life.

So… in short?  I loved it.  It is one of the few movies that is better than the original, and one of the even fewer movies that improves the book.  Considering it was a good book….

I can’t wait to see Mocking Jay. It was my favorite of the novels and done right, might even improve on a fantastic book.  Fingers crossed!