The following review contains significant spoilers.Catching Fire, sequel to The Hunger Games, has been in theatres for almost two months and has probably been seen by most teens in America. It continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, a 17-year-old girl living in a dystopian future-America known as Panem. The first movie was about her experience as a “tribute”—a competitor in a deadly government-run tournament—representing the impoverished Appalachian region designated District 12. She survived that ordeal through a blend of impulsive courage, tenuous alliances, and defiant risk taking. In this second volume, she is forced to compete in the games again, but she also becomes the figurehead of a budding revolution, something that happens with limited knowledge on her part and even less consent.
Any review of these movies naturally invites a comparison to the books upon which they are based. The first film eliminated or skimmed over many plot points, but the major events were represented. In fact, in some areas the movie adaptation may have even surpassed the source material—mostly in its exposition of the wider political and revolutionary undertones that exist beneath the shocking account of one girl’s survival tale. Because the book is written from Katniss’ first person point of view, the reader is forced to remain in ignorance of much that is brewing. The movie, however, suffers from no such restriction, and there are a few added scenes where the audience is made aware of happenings that Katniss is not privy to.
The second movie possesses the same weaknesses and strengths, perhaps to an even higher degree. Once again, many important details get but a moment of screen time. There is also no exposition of previous events; anyone who tries to jump into Catching Fire without having seen or read The Hunger Games will be hopelessly lost. The upside of all that abridgement is that there is plenty of screen time to be spent on character development. Katniss gets excellent one-on-one scenes with fellow District 12 tribute Peeta, long-time friend Gale, and leaders from the government, the games, and the revolution. The moviemakers do an excellent job of connecting the dots and showing how Katniss’ dangerous-but-successful gambit at the end of the first movie/book cause the events of the second to unfold.
Of course, none of this answers the question of whether the movie is suitable for family viewing. Like its predecessor, Catching Fire holds a PG-13 rating—surprisingly tame considering the subject matter. While the book includes many violent scenes, the movie mostly relies on threats and off-camera deaths to keep the tension building. The story also contains more hope in this installment. In The Hunger Games, Katniss was a helpless pawn, fighting against all odds just to survive, with few friends and hardly anyone she could trust. In Catching Fire, however, she is experienced, angry, principled, and resourceful. Family, friends, and allies rally around her. There are a great number of positive messages to be found.
The first half of the film shows Peeta and Katniss traveling to the many districts of Panem on a victors’ tour, and the screenwriters use a powerful montage of scenes to draw the audience into a spirit of revolution and readiness to fight the good fight. The second half sees Katniss returning to the tournament arena. This time it is filled with competitors who are are all former victors, and many of them are angry at the oppressive government who sent them there—and ready to do something about it. A surprising amount of teamwork and self sacrifice are woven into the plot.
No part of the series can be judged completely on its own, however. While this is the high point, emotionally, the remainder of the story (written as one book, Mockingjay, which will be split into two movies) is by far the darkest portion. Author Suzanne Collins has revealed in interviews that one of her goals in writing this series is to expose teens to the realities of war. She grew up in a military family, with a grandfather who served in WWI, an uncle who served in WWII, and a father who served in Vietnam. As a young child, she experienced what it was like to have a parent deployed in a combat zone, and she spent her teen years in Europe, where her father applied much effort to teaching the whole family about the troubled history of the region.
Collins pulls no punches in getting her message across. As a book, Mockingjay received very mixed reviews, beginning with a 2.5-star rating on Amazon shortly after it was published in 2010. Many readers were shocked by a beloved character’s death and an epilogue that contained a fragile a mix of hope and post-traumatic stress. Collins assures readers that she had that ending in mind from the very beginning of the writing process. Katniss’ entire story, while at first wrapped up in a flashy and edgy fantasy tale, complete with reality TV glamour and a trio of star-crossed lovers, has always been headed in the direction of tragedy.
After three and a half years, Mockingjay‘s Amazon rating has slowly crept up to its current level of 4 stars, perhaps as readers have distanced themselves from the initial shock or re-read the books. Now that the emotional losses are less raw, fans seem more willing to allow Collins her platform for spreading the message that war has a lifetime impact on everyone who gets caught in its wake. Accepting that allows the reader/viewer to focus on the story’s depth and what it has to say about the best parts of how human beings treat each other at the worst of times. The Mockingjay movies promise to be sad and violent. What remains to be seen is whether the screenwriters can imbue them with positive qualities as well.
Susannah
