The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the
sequel to Gary Ross's The Hunger Games,
both adaptations of Suzanne Collins's
books, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. The Hunger
Games focuses on Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence)
who lives in Panem, a totalitarian nation which is divided into twelve
districts and the Capitol. Every year
two children (aged between 12 and 18, a boy and a girl) is selected at random
to take part in the Hunger Games which is considered to be entertainment for
the citizens of the Capitol but is also considered as retribution for the civil
war between the districts and the Capitol that happened decades before. Each of the tributes, those chosen from the
districts, are forced to fight one another until only one child survives;
Katniss's 12 year old sister, Prim (Willow
Shields) is selected but Katniss volunteers in her place. Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson), who goes to school with Katniss, is selected as the
male tribute; Katniss finds out during the pre-Games interviews that Peeta has
been in love with her for years (though she thinks it's a stunt) and eventually
Haymitch Abernathy (Harrelson),
their mentor, tells her that if she plays the part as a lovesick girl, she or
Peeta could win. In the arena, Katniss
and Peeta are eventually able to play their parts as star-crossed lovers when a
new rule is announced that if the final two tributes are from the same district
at the end of the Games, they both can win, which works to their advantage as
they gain attention from the citizens of the Capitol. Eventually, Katniss and Peeta are the only
ones left in the arena and think they can go home until the new rule is
revoked. As Katniss doesn't want to kill
Peeta and vice versa, Katniss hands Peeta some poisonous berries to commit
suicide with, though they both know the Capitol would rather have two victors
that they can use to manipulate the masses than no victors so Katniss and Peeta
are announced as victors of the 74th Hunger Games. As they are both crowned at the end of the
film, it is clear that President Snow (Sutherland)
isn't happy and Katniss has inadvertently gained an extremely powerful enemy in
the Capitol. On the train home, the
truth about Katniss not returning Peeta's feelings causes a rift to form
between them, even though they both know they have to continue playing their
role as star-crossed lovers.
Rating: 10
Recommended To: Anyone - loads of action, romance thrown in, and a little sad
Favourite Characters: Peeta - love him
Favourite Part: Peeta: It's not real.
Good Points: Katniss and Peeta; the allies; the focus on being a victor; the additions, alterations and exclusions from the books
Bad Points: Lack of other families
Recommended To: Anyone - loads of action, romance thrown in, and a little sad
Favourite Characters: Peeta - love him
Favourite Part: Peeta: It's not real.
Good Points: Katniss and Peeta; the allies; the focus on being a victor; the additions, alterations and exclusions from the books
Bad Points: Lack of other families
