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'Catching Fire' Back in Peeta's Arms

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In the future, when everyone is fabulous, Victors Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) must now travel throughout the country on their Victory Tour of surviving the 74th Hunger Games. In Catching Fire, Panem President Snow (Donald Sutherland) has ordered the District 12 tributes to convince the people that the love exhibited between them is real, and not just a front to survive the previous Games. Katniss and Peeta are forced to read from cards that District 12 escort Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) writes for them, unable to speak their own thoughts without the threat of backlash from The Capitol.
Katniss suffers with flashbacks from Hunger Games, as her and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) wait for the hovering doom to return. The opening scenes of director Francis Lawrence's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire are cut too fast. Where Gary Ross' vision in The Hunger Games was to take his time with these scenes, building the suspense and emotional attachment, the Catching Fire opening segments are like pressing fast forward on your remote. The returning character intros are a bit cheesy, but we can soon brush that off. Victory Tour ceremonies at The Capitol are like a televised Disneyland - ambiance glitz-ed to oblivion. If you look closely, you can see Chris Tucker's character in The Fifth Element screaming with joy in the audience. 

 It is the 75th year of the Hunger Games, and Panem's Quarter Quell selects only Victors to fight again in the Games. In front of crowds at The Reaping, with no appeal, Katniss and Peeta find themselves thrust into the Quarter Quell. 
In a world where the people in power can kill you at an instant, class is separated, and love is punished, the people of Panem still need their Games. No matter young or old, weak or strong, no one is safe entering the arena. But it is the unspoken love between Katniss and Peeta, as well as Katniss' constant heroic efforts to save those around her that has the world catching fire with the tributes. Although most of the attention is on "the girl on fire," Josh Hutcherson is the real standout with his exceptional performance as the compassionate and intelligent hero Peeta Mellark. Hutcherson has something about him that is heartbreaking to watch. He says so much with his face, that words are unnecessary. Katniss Everdeen will twirl us into the next installment Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014) with the Victors of a revolution.       
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  1. Dan O.December 5, 2013 at 3:52 PM

    Worth the watch, especially if you want to see this story continue on and develop some more. Good review Natalie.

    ReplyDelete

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