[five-star-rating]Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, Amanda Plummer, Toby Jones[/five-star-rating]
What started as Brave New World novels for teenagers has morphed into action-packed filmmaking worthy of attention and intellectual comment. This second film is simply a better offering than the first one. Catching Fire takes a good franchise and clears the way for the possibility of a great one.
There are a lot of reasons this works. Everyone now knows what a good actor Jennifer Lawrence is (after her Oscar win for Silver Linings Playbook), so she’s given the chance to shine. The budget is noticeably bigger, so it doesn’t feel like studio Lionsgate attempted to make an opulent blockbuster with green screens, like the last time. The action and pace are tighter. Finally, more time is spent living within the world instead of trying to explain the backstory. More time is also given to the theme of how fascist leaders might attempt to entertain us to death.
Lawrence and Hutcherson are still poor citizens of a dystopian society. However, they’re better off than the last time when they were thrust into the annual Hunger Games, where the impoverished are forced into a vicious kill-or-be-killed game to instill fear into others. Evil President Snow (Sutherland) knows that these two heroes are unlikely symbols of possible revolution. He and government lackey Hoffman invent another game to trap and kill Lawrence and Hutcherson, shaming them, and squashing any nascent uprising.
Catching Fire is chock full of fantastic juxtapositions. The unwashed masses are quite different from the ridiculous opulence of the rich Capital citizens. (This time, some effort was made to trim the absurdity of the first film.) There is also an intriguing contrast of the pageantry and the bloodiness of the Games (reminiscent of Roman gladiator games).
The strongest allegory is about how entertainment can divert us from what’s really happening. Catching Fire is pop art that points out the dangers of its own distraction. This combined popularity and polemic seem to attract even more talent this time; the cast is loaded with some phenomenal actors.
[rating-key]
Not everything is perfect, but darned close. So, we can forgive that eye shadow and mascara apparently don’t ever slide off faces, despite sweat, water, bloodbaths, and attack baboons. (I know some drag queens who’d love to know this make-up secret.) Also, it’s a little thing, but the young men, who supposedly have such a rough life, all look a bit like Abercrombie models. I applaud sexy Sam Claflin being shirtless, but I thought it was funny that Liam Hemsworth works all day in a mine, only to end up with cute little smudges on his forehead and ears.
So, yes, Catching Fire even distracted me. I was deeply entertained the whole time. However, on the way home, I also realized that this big-budget blockbuster was well scripted, well acted, and thought provoking. I wouldn’t wince over discussing the irony of filling our brains with such absorbing stuff as things around us got progressively worse.
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