Thanks to Cinna's latest efforts,
Katniss and Peeta steal the show once again as their outfits burst
into flame and THIS TIME they look hella real. You can tell
Lionsgate really took the first film's special effects being ripped
apart by the critics personally since they nearly doubled the budget
for Catching Fire and does it EVER show. Post-parade,
Haymitch introduces them to District's 11 tributes: Chaff and Seeder.
Chaff greets Katniss by kissing her straight on the lips, the
resulting look on her face being PRICELESS. One almost has to wonder
if they told Jennifer Lawrence he was going to do that, or if she's
just that great at acting.
We're not done with the hilarious
introductions yet though, as one of the District 7 tributes, Johanna
Mason, gets on the elevator with the District 12 crew as they're
leaving. Johanna is played by Jena Malone, an excellent actress who
never seems to get the spotlight she deserves. Johanna talks about
how much she hates her stylist, throws some shade at Katniss, and
then strips naked in front of everyone. Peeta and Haymitch are ALL
SMILES while Katniss determinedly looks the other direction, probably
making her hands bleed with how tight her hands must be balled up
right now. Have I mentioned how much Jennifer Lawrence rules? I
don't think I have. JENNIFER LAWRENCE RULES.
They go to the
training center where they implement Haymitch's plan of making
allies, Katniss talking with Wiress and Beetee. Wiress is played by
Amanda Plummer, another great actress who has been getting steady
work since the early 1980s. We've met her once, WAY back in my
review of the first Prophecy film. We've also met Beetee's actor, Jeffrey
Wright, before as well. He was in Source Code, were he also played an extremely
intelligent guy lacking a bit of social skills. Wright was the
center of this film's particular casting controversy, as he is black
and Beetee in the book was... you know, I'm not sure. He was
described as having “ashen skin”, which really can apply to ANY
race. The online whining about Wright being cast was nowhere near as
vociferous as that surrounding Rue's actress Amandla Stenberg, but it
was still a thing. God, I hate fandom.
The two District 3 representatives are
a bit out there, but Katniss immediately notices how useful they are
when they are able to identify a near invisible forcefield around the
Gamemaker's lounge as well as figure out how the entire facility is
powered in a matter of moments. Mags also shows up on Katniss'
recruit list, as she is able to make incredibly detailed fish hooks
which would help them get food quickly. Mags is unable to talk, but
is able to communicate through facial expressions. Katniss is very
kind to her, as they both share volunteering to save a loved one.
Unfortunately, Peeta and Haymitch are less than impressed with the
tributes she wants to join with, as they imagined the younger and
stronger recruits.
When it's time for everyone to audition
their skill to the Gamemakers to get their ranking, Katniss is once
again the last to go. When she enters the room she sees Peeta has
painted a mural of Rue on the ground, which makes her tear up.
Steeling herself, she grabs a training dummy and paints “Seneca
Crane” on its chest, hanging it by a rope for the judges to see.
She does her patented sarcastic curtsey and storms out. This year's
batch of interviews on Caesar's show don't go as smoothly as they
have in the past, as all of the victors are very upset they have to
enter the Games again despite being told they would never have to.
They have no problem speaking their mind, because what have they got
to lose at this point?
Katniss enters her dressing room to
find Snow has decreed she wear the dress she was to be married in for
her TV time, Cinna telling her he's made some “alterations” to
it. As she waits backstage for her turn to walk out, her and Johanna
bond over their hatred of the President. The dress also bursts into
flames, but it transforms into a mockingjay-like costume complete
with wings. We see Snow watching this with disdain, scowling as
Cinna is appraised for his design genius. Well, it's been nice
knowing you Lenny Kravitz. Peeta's not one to be outdone when
appearing on Caesar's show though, as he drops the bombshell that not
only did they get married in secret, but Katniss is PREGNANT. BOOM!
This upsets the crowd greatly, who begin to yell for the Games to be
stopped. Peeta returns to the top of the stage where all of the
tributes are standing, the entire group holding hands as a sign of
solidarity, forcing Caesar to cut his broadcast short.
Afterward, Haymitch congratulates Peeta
on his latest stroke of genius. Effie gives Haymitch a gold bangle
and Peeta a gold necklace to go along with Katniss' gold pin, neither
of which I'm sure will be important despite the camera lingering on
both of them. Haymitch gives Katniss one last piece of advice before
she departs for the arena: remember who the real enemy is. Cinna
escorts her to the launching area, but there's a snag as her tube
doesn't start moving. Suddenly Stormtroopers burst into the room and
SAVAGELY beating Cinna to death, while she's helplessly trapped
behind the tube and forced to watch. Is Snow an utter monster or
what? It's not until they drag him away does her tube start rising,
putting her into the new arena. This year the Cornucopia is in the
center of a lake, all of the tributes standing around it on floating
platforms. Also new this year is Katniss' strategy, as she barrels
STRAIGHT for the center of death. She makes it there first and grabs
a bow and a quiver of arrows, about to shoot Finnick when he holds up
Haymitch's bangle to confirm he's on her side.
Grabbing Peeta and
Mags, they run into the nearby forest, which is now tropical instead of
wooded. They hack their way through the vines,
Peeta taking lead with his machete. A moment too late Katniss
notices the telltale shimmer of a forcefield, which electrocutes
Peeta and sends him flying. He isn't breathing, Katniss going out of
her mind as Finnick begins to perform CPR on him. This was another
of my favourite moments in the book, as Katniss wasn't familiar with
the procedure and thought for a moment Finnick was kissing him.
Collins' trilogy are full of neat little world building moments like
that, giving the impression she really put thought into her virtual
world unlike another certain author whom shall remain nameless.
COUGH COUGH sparkly vampires COUGH COUGH.
Peeta returns to life, a highly
emotional Katniss kissing him. For the first time ever, this does
NOT prompt a Gale reaction shot. They set up camp for the night, but
the peace doesn't last long as they get attacked by a lethal fog that
burns to the touch. Peeta, still weak from nearly dying, falls
behind and starts getting killed by the fog. Mags, who has been
riding on Finnick's back since she's unable to run, bids her foster
son goodbye and runs directly into the fog. This frees up Finnick to
carry Peeta to safety, the second straight time he's saved his life.
Peeta's going to owe him the birthday present of a LIFETIME.
They get to know the arena, a circular
area covered by a dome shaped forcefield, narrowing escaping another
trap in the form of mutant baboons. They eventually meet up with
Johanna, Wiress, and Beetee, the hot headed exhibitionist telling
Katniss she saved the tech geeks for her. Wiress isn't faring too
well, as she appears to be in shock and keeps saying “tick tock”
nonstop. In a bit of inspired thinking, Katniss is able to figure
out why she's repeating those two words: the entire arena is a round
area that operates like a clock, with every hour bringing a new trap.
Unfortunately this is Wiress' long contribution to the group, as she
gets killed during an attack by the Careers, who then escape back
into the jungle.
Beetee formulates a complicated plan to
electrocute the entire beach to take out the Careers, saying he'll
need six hours to prepare it. Katniss pulls Peeta aside as tells him
they need to leave the group once the Careers are dead, because then
they'll have to start turning on each other. Peeta talks about how
if he lost Katniss he'd have nothing, as he has no one else that he
cares about. Hmm, not even THAT FAMILY you mentioned earlier?! How
did the writers and editors of the movie miss this?! I expect
character motivations to change from scene to scene in something like Transformers or the Amazing Spider-Man 2, certainly not the Hunger Games!
He gives her his necklace, which
contains photos of her family and Gale. She kisses him deeply while
the romantic music swells, and again we get no Gale reaction.
WHOO-HOO! Johanna cuts the tender scene short, announcing it's time
to begin the plan. Beetee ties a metal wire on a spool around a
tree, Katniss and Johanna charged with taking the rest of the wire
down to the beach while Peeta and Finnick stay behind to guard him.
At midnight lightning will hit the tree and generate enough energy to
send Marty back in ti- I mean, electrify the beach and take out the
Careers. They know this because lightning strikes this particular
tree every twelve hours as part of its clock-like mechanism.
The plan gets off to a bad start as
Katniss and Johanna get attacked by the Careers, getting even worse
as Johanna knocks Katniss out from behind. She lures the Careers
away, Katniss staggering to her feet and hiding when she hears
Finnick calling out for Johanna. Katniss returns to the tree,
finding only an electrocuted Beetee lying on the ground. She notices
he's tied the wire around a spear, but puts this out of her mind when
she hears a cannon go off. Finnick appears in the clearing, Katniss
about to shoot him when he echoes Haymitch's words back at her about
remembering who the real enemy is. She lowers her bow as the
lightning starts to queue up, suddenly grabbing the wire and wrapping
it around one of her arrows. She fires it into the sky at the
forcefield just as the lightning hits, creating a massive explosion
that scatters everyone.
Katniss, lying on the ground, looks up
to see the ceiling of the arena collapsing, a lone ship lowering down
and grabbing her with a giant claw. She drifts in and out of
consciousness, waking up next to a sleeping Beetee. She explores the
ship, stunned to see Haymitch, Finnick, and Plutarch talking shop.
PLOT TWIST! They're all part of a the rebellion forming against the
Capitol, and are on their way to District 13. Wait, 13? You mean
the district that was destroyed during the first rebellion that the
movies have never ONCE mentioned until now? The same 13 that was a
huge plot point of the second book? Oh, okay. It's not until
Haymitch confesses they were unable to rescue Peeta (and Johanna)
does Katniss go ballistic and begin punching him, but Plutarch knocks
her out with a syringe.
She wakes up for the ninth time to find
Gale at her side, her first thoughts about her family. He replies
that he got them out in time, which doesn't make sense to her.
Hesitantly, he tells her Snow had the entire district firebombed and
12 no longer exists.
Cue the credits.
Not only did Catching Fire
outperform the original financially, earning nearly 900 million
dollars this time around, it also fared even better critically,
scoring an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. It became the highest grossing
domestic release of 2013 on its way to notching tenth highest earning
of all time. Highest grossing of 2013 is all the more impressive was
the fact it was the first 2D to do this since 2008, as all the other
films in meantime had the pumped up 3D ticket prices to artificially
inflate their numbers. This makes me very happy, as hopefully this
means the 3D fad is on the way out. The top two movies of 2014,
Mockingjay Part 1 and American Sniper, were also both
2D so keep those fingers crossed!
This movie's far from perfect, but it's
also head, shoulders, torso, and abdomen above pretty much every
Triple A movie I've seen not featuring James Bond. I often talk
about NOT to do a sequel, this is your blueprint on how TO make a
sequel. They got way more right than wrong, as this is one of those
collaborative efforts where ALL gears were clicking. The skilled
direction, the dynamite script, and the steeped-in-effort acting, it
all came together to make one of the most enjoyable movies I've ever
seen. Very high recommendation here to everyone, even people who
normally avoid Young Adult movies like the plague.
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