‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ (2013): The Fan Favorite Lives Up to Its Reputation

With the first film, I had no idea where the general consensus of the franchise landed, but I did some reading before this second chapter of my rewatch. The answer was close to unanimous: critics and audiences alike tend to name The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as the best of the saga. I even tweeted about it before pressing play, hoping I’d end up in the same camp and expecting nothing less than a great, great sequel.

The biggest change is behind the camera, and it’s obvious within minutes. Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) takes over from Gary Ross (Pleasantville) and drops the jittery handheld work and frantic cutting that turned the first movie's action into a blur. Now the camera holds steady long enough to follow who’s attacking whom and what each blow costs. The violence finally hurts, both in District 12, where the Peacekeepers stop pretending to be anything but an occupying force, and in a new arena whose landscape is a weapon in itself. I loved the change of scenery too, since it actually felt like a tribute could die from thirst or the weather alone. Still, the Games play it safe. There are creative moments here and there, yet a saga about forcing people into a televised death match could be far more shocking and memorable than this.

What really lifts Catching Fire above its predecessor is that the politics move to the center. The 2012 flick showed how the Capitol keeps twelve districts in line, and this sequel shows what happens when that grip starts to slip. A salute, a whistle, a pin on a jacket — small gestures spread from district to district faster than any army, and President Snow knows he has to destroy what Katniss means, not just Katniss herself. My favorite example belongs to Cinna (Lenny Kravitz, Precious), and I love that a costume designer becomes one of the story’s most memorable characters. A wedding dress that transforms into a mockingjay in front of the entire Capitol is costume design as open defiance. I know some see the ending as a cliffhanger that simply stops, but I don’t. This is the story of a girl accepting that she has to become the symbol everyone else already sees, and the last act completes that arc with real conviction, all the way to a final shot I loved.

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) is still stunning. Katniss comes home a winner and lives like a survivor, jolted by memories on a simple hunt, then pushed onto a Victory Tour that’s basically propaganda with her face on it. Every former victor we meet carries the same damage in a different shape, a reminder that winning the Games only means surviving them. Lawrence plays the smiling sweetheart and the girl falling apart behind her eyes at the same time, and her close-ups do much of the talking. That gap between performing and feeling is also where the romance finally clicked for me. I buy Katniss and Peeta far more now, watching an act slowly become something both of them mean, with Hutcherson (Zathura) adding real warmth to Peeta. Gale, not so much, since Liam Hemsworth (The Expendables 2) has little to do. That tour stretch is also where the 146 minutes start to drag.

The newcomers sidestep the archetypes their characters seem built on, especially Johanna (Jena Malone, Nocturnal Animals), Finnick (Sam Claflin, The Nightingale), and Plutarch (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Mission: Impossible III). Stanley Tucci (Conclave) and Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) remain as dependable as ever, but this time Elizabeth Banks (Spider-Man) shines the most for me. Under the wigs and the chirpy etiquette, Effie starts to crack, and Banks lets us watch a woman realize what she’s been part of.

So yes, I see why this is the one people pick. Catching Fire is a clear step above the first movie and my favorite of the franchise so far — a sequel with inspiring things to say about resistance. It runs long and keeps the Games too tame, but I got the great sequel I was hoping for.

Rating: A-