About 19 months after The Hunger Games first came to theaters, the second installment of Suzanne Collins‘s thrilling trilogy has finally hit the big screen. With a new director and many new adult cast members, the film certainly has a different, more intense vibe. This intensity is due in part to the story’s portrayal of the 75th Hunger Games (the third Quarter Quell), in which the tributes for the annually televised fight-to-the-death are pulled from the pool of living victors. Of course, because Katniss is the only female victor from her district she, along with her star-crossed lover, Peeta, is chosen as a tribute.
- Movie banner. Credit: Hunger Games Facebook
As I watched the scene when the District 12 victors, Katniss and Peeta, and their mentor Haymitch, realize that their time with the Games has not ended, I could feel their dread at knowing that they have to go through such a horrendous experience yet again. Even knowing that the moment was coming since I read the book, I was not prepared for the feelings the onscreen revelation evoked in me and the rest of the audience members. These feelings don’t go away as the rest of the appalled victors and say and do anything to try to stop the games.
In a series of interviews with Caesar Flickerman, the host of the Hunger Games played by Stanley Tucci, all of the victors comment on how the games should not be a battle between the existing victors as tributes. One of the most memorable interviews is with Johanna Mason, from District 7. Johanna is a gutsy, quick-tempered lose cannon. She says what she wants and pushes people’s buttons because, as she explains simply in the Games, she has no one left she loves. Johanna Mason says everything we want to be said and more. During her interview with Caesar she drops two F-bombs, both of which are bleeped out, but the fact that they are there shows just how angry she is. For her interview, Katniss wears a wedding dress that morphs into a mockingjay, the sign of the rebellion. After all the interviews finish, the victors all hold hands to show the unity between the districts in attempt to stop the games. However, the next morning the games begin and so does the bloodbath.
The games are action packed and there is never a dull moment. Battling the other victors and the dangerous elements of the arena proves to be a arduous task, even for these seasoned victors. Haymitch describes the last Hunger Games as child’s play because now they are in an arena with experienced killers. For example, Enobaria from District 2, had her teeth filed into fangs so that she could rip out people’s throats. The Careers from the last games look like amateurs compared to the tributes in the Quarter Quell.
This film helps build up for what’s to come in the next two films, Mockingjay Part 1 and Mockingjay Part 2. Signs of the rebellion are present as well, especially from the powerful line spoken Haymitch, “Remember who the enemy is.”
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire received killer reviews, earning a 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. It grossed an estimated $161.1 million this past weekend in the US and $146.6 million internationally, reaching $307.7 million globally. Empowering and inspirational, this film is definitely one to go see over Thanksgiving break. Buy tickets here before they’re sold out!