Review of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) by Dragonsfoe . — 21 Mar 2015

I loved The Hunger Games though it had flaws here and there, it was a promising start to a amazing blockbuster series with a lot of potential.

It's time for the Victory tour and the Star-crossed lovers of District 12 have to get back on their feet again. But one thing is stopping the girl on fire Katniss Everdeen (the awesome Jennifer Lawrence), not just her PTSD but how the villainous President Snow (Donald Sutherland) states that she and Peeta (Square-faced Josh Hutcherson) had not only started a relationship but also started a uprising, putting themselves in a bad place. At the end of the tour President Snow is not convinced and put them in the arena yet again.

To start, the supporting cast was amazing including Harrelson, Caflin, Malone and Tucci they compliment the movie very nicely but the standout was newcomer Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee, He literally steals every scene he is in. Then there is the main cast, though Sutherland, Hemsworth and Hutcherson were good Lawrence is amazing, she IS Katniss. I know I'm being very specific but the costume design was amazing too.

Now for the good stuff.

Mostly everything was good but there were still flaws such as suffering from "second movie syndrome" with major plot points not closed. There is also the bad character development with Mags Beetee Wiress and such. They all have small roles in the book even though a fan would expect more, especially from Beetee. But on the good side, the plot was pretty good, not the best though and the dialogue could've been better but the thing that keeps it's going is its action and it's cast especially the tone making it a fun political thriller Francis Lawrence beautifully building up on Ross' great predecessor. Did I mention James Newton Howard?

Catching Fire is a fun thriller with twists,turns and humor, even in its darkest moments the chemistry of a wonderful cast still prevails making it one if the best action movies if the year.

Rating: 8.3 (A-).