I finally got around to seeing The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Alycia and I were sick this past weekend so we weren’t able to make it out to the theater until yesterday.
I really enjoyed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I enjoyed the original movie quite a bit and the sequel was even better. Catching Fire did what good sequels do: it raised the stakes, increased the action and generally made things more epic. After reading and watching Catching Fire, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to hold off reading Mockingjay.
Here are some thoughts I had while watching The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
Supporting Cast
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are definitely the stars of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. They provide the heart and humanity that make the movie more than a mindless action flick. While I enjoyed Lawrence and Hutcherson’s performances, I was even more impressed by the supporting cast. Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket and Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman stole each of their scenes. Banks actually makes Effie a sympathetic character and I can’t take my eyes off of Tucci as Flickerman. The main characters are important to Catching Fire but so are the supporting characters. Sometimes we want to be the main character but the body of Christ needs supporting characters as well. I really want to be the face, voice and eyes but God may want me to be the spleen.
Allies
Much to Katniss’s chagrin, she is forced to form alliances with tributes other than Peeta. To survive the challenges facing her both in and out of the arena, Katniss needed some people who were on her side. We all need people who are on our side. We’re all going to face challenges in life and we won’t be able to weather them unless we’ve got some allies. Katniss needed Peeta, Gale and Haymitch among others. Hopefully we won’t ever be fighting for our lives, but we need others as well. We need people to support us like Peeta and Gale. We need people to mentor us like Haymitch. We even need people like Effie to keep us on schedule and moving forward.
Peeta
Josh Hutcherson does a great job as Peeta. He really makes the character from the book come alive on the screen. What I like most about Peeta is that he seems like a genuinely good, selfless person. Katniss believes that he’s the best person to survive the games and help lead a revolution. I see a lot of Harvey Dent in Peeta; he was the best District 12 had to offer, a symbol that could galvanize the people. I hate Peeta for a lot of the same reasons that I like him. Every time I see good, selfless people, either real or fictional, I wish I could be better like them. I know we are all works in progress but sometimes I wish there was a little more progress and a lot more niceness in my life.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was a good movie. I enjoyed visiting the world of Panem again. It was a great sequel and a good adaptation of the book. I’m looking forward to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 but will probably just read the book to find out what happens.
What did you think of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire?
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