The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Review 

Since Gary Ross brought to life this franchise The Hunger Games has been a great fondness of mine, it is among one of my favourite series. 

I loved the first film and was saddened when Gary Ross choose not to return for the follow up but Francis Lawrence bring the series to an emotional resonance in this follow up. 

I'm going to get this over with and start with the bad parts, cause they are few. My one major complaint would have to be about Prim's cat. In Hunger Games the cat is black and white, and in Catching Fire, the cat lit fire and became all orange (and bigger) you know how I know this is supposed to be the same cat, cause its the only cat and is the one who always hisses at Katniss. And come to think of it, where the hell are all the animals (excluding the ones seen in the games) In Hunger games there was the deer, and a few pigeons. Number 2, we get turkeys, that's it. I wonder where all the animal wildlife is and if this would be explained in next year's two part starter to the finale.

As that is really my only complaint for the movie, here's what I loved about it. 

There is way more emotion here. While Gary did shoot the first film in a very realistic style, Francis is able to steady the camera and give his audience that chance to look into these characters and feel their fear, their anguish, their desperation. Francis really does a fantastic job with the material here. This is a director who I thought would just up and disappear, thank the lord I was wrong. Francis does such a terrific job with this adaptation. And he has a fantastic crew to help him out. The script was written by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) and Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine). They all capture the essence of what the first film captured in the first book. The reality of such a dire situation, the mental issues that come from killing someone. In all honesty these guys worked everything out so that it would seem plausible. The visual effects crew and costume designers also do a terrific job with the costumes. This time round everything seems tighter, more put together. And with a bigger budget more of an effort can be seen in making everything look bigger than it did in the first film. As Effie puts it, they've got new housing and new training facilities. 

Now complements must be commended to the amazing ensemble cast put together for this one. We got all the greats back from the first film, Elizabeth Banks, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz, Woody Harrelson, Willow Shields, Paula Malcomson, Toby Jones and even a little cameo by one of the dead victors (Jack Quaid as Marvel). New comers Philip Seymor Hoffman, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Lynn Cohen, Amanda Plummer and Jeffery Wright all gave me the excitement factor, each actor brought their own strong qualities to their roles. Philip is golden and mysterious and is just a thrill to watch, he brings the freaking talent here folks. Sam was pretty good as Finnick, his American accent worked for the role (I do wish however that he kept his British accent) Amanda and Jeffery work so well off each other and they are both fabulous, Amanda especially, giving a very special performance. Jena is the shooting star in the new roster, she nails all her scenes and truly captures who this girl is, someone who is annoyed and unhappy to be back in the games. The cast in this film was so beyond anything I could have hoped for. And with Julianne Moore now added to the roster of new cast additions I can't wait for part 3. 

And on one final note, the score and the soundtrack.

The soundtrack is simply put, golden. I loved the soundtrack to this film, I would even list it higher than the soundtrack for the first film. I mean with contributors like Coldplay, Christina Aguilera, Ellie Goulding, Imagine Dragons, Sia, Of Monsters and Men, Santigold its a sure thing this soundtrack will also be getting some close eyed attention. 

James Newton Howard returns to score, and he is still just as terrific here. The music is more thrilling and still has that nature tone to it, but not as much as in the first film. James Newton Howard is a favourite composer of mine, I loved his score for this film and I enjoyed the fact that a musical cue omitted from the first film was used in this one. 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the sequel that could truly outshine its predecessor. This franchise is looking more and more, to me, like the harry potter franchise. I am anticipating a huge epic two part finale on par with Deathly Hollows. I love the deeper dive into the themes of government control and the effects of human murder. 

Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a solid 5 out of 5, and man is Jennifer on fire!!!