The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) is the sequel to The Hunger Games (2012). Although the first movie was very good, I thought Catching Fire was a lot better. The director, Francis Lawrence (Water for Elephants, I Am Legend), did a great job capturing the right mood. The writers, Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt, did a great job adapting Suzanne Collins' book to a film. There was only a few things left out that I wanted to see, as opposed to most other book to movie adaptations which normally leave out a lot.

Catching Fire felt more solid and moving than the first Hunger Games movie. In the first movie, the camera movements were shaky, and I didn't feel the characters were developed enough for viewers to make a strong emotional connection to them. However, in Catching Fire, the camera movements were smoother yet intense. The characters were well developed, which created more of a connection to them.

The action sequences were amazing. Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss perfectly: fierce and stubborn on the outside while struggling with being an unintentional leader on the inside.

The only criticism I have is that the lighting was so dark in certain scenes. Sometimes you couldn't see their faces very well. While it worked at times, most times I did not like it.

All this being said, I would highly recommend seeing The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The acting is wonderful and the action scenes are very exciting.

Take a look at the trailer: