“THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE” (2013): TONIGTH AT 22.00 ON TV NEOX TO ENJOY WITH FAMILY

It is a 2013 American dystopian science fiction adventure film based on Suzanne Collins' dystopian novel Catching Fire (2009), the second installment in The Hunger Games trilogy. The film is the sequel to The Hunger Games (2012) (it has a post in the blog) and the second installment in The Hunger Games film series, produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, with co-production by Lionsgate Films and distributed by Lionsgate Entertainment. 

Francis Lawrence directed the film, with a screenplay by Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt (credited as Michael deBruyn). Adding to the existing cast, the supporting cast was filled out with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Sam Claflin, Lynn Cohen, Jena Malone, and Amanda Plummer.

Filming began on September 10, 2012, in Atlanta, Georgia, before moving to Hawaii. The plot of Catching Fire takes place a few months after the previous installment; Katniss Everdeen and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark have returned home safely after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Throughout the story, Katniss senses that a rebellion against the oppressive Capitol is simmering throughout the districts.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire premiered in London on November 11, 2013 and was theatrically released on November 15, 2013, in Brazil; November 20 in Finland, Sweden, and Norway; November 21 in the United Kingdom; and November 22 in IMAX, in the United States. The film set records for the biggest November opening weekend and biggest three- and five-day Thanksgiving box-office totals, surpassing the first film's box office grosses. It ranks as the 26th-highest-grossing film at the domestic box office and the highest-grossing film at the domestic box office of 2013, becoming the first 2-D film since The Dark Knight (2008) to top the yearly box office, as well as having a lead female top the box office since The Exorcist (1973). The film has grossed over $865 million worldwide and is the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2013, the highest-grossing film released by Lionsgate, and the highest-grossing entry in The Hunger Games series. The film was followed by The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, a two-part sequel and finale of the franchise: Part 1 (it has a post in the blog) was released on November 21, 2014, in the United States, and Part 2 on November 20, 2015.

Catching Fire received positive reviews and is widely considered by critics to be an improvement over its predecessor, with the sentiment being that it's "a more-confident, more-polished movie"; praise also goes to Lawrence's performance as Katniss. It's the most critically acclaimed chapter in The Hunger Games series, according to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The film also received numerous nominations, with a nomination for the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Action Film and a Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film. For her performance, Lawrence was nominated a second time for the Empire Award for Best Actress as well as the Saturn Award and Broadcast Film Critics Association Award. The song "Atlas" was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

Plot

Sometime after Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark return to District 12 following their victory in the 74th Hunger Games, President Snow visits Katniss and explains that her actions in the Games have inspired uprisings. He orders her to use the upcoming Victory Tour to convince people that her actions were out of love and not defiance against the Capitol, warning her that her friends, family, and District 12 will otherwise suffer, but she is unsuccessful in doing so. During the tour, Katniss' mentor Haymitch Abernathy warns her that she and Peeta, as Victors like him, will now have to serve as mentors to future tributes and that their show of love will be forced to continue for the rest of their lives.

Peacekeepers enter District 12 to crack down on illegal activity, and Katniss's friend Gale is publicly whipped after attacking the Head Peacekeeper. However, Haymitch, Peeta and Katniss use their influence as Hunger Games victors to save Gale from being executed. This is broadcast on state television; in response, Snow decides that the Hunger Games victors have too much power and need to be eradicated. He announces that the upcoming Hunger Games - the 75th overall and the third Quarter Quell - will involve tributes selected from previous victors, allowing him to dispose of almost all of them. Katniss is devastated, knowing she will be forced to participate as she is the only living female Victor from District 12, and she immediately devotes herself to ensuring Peeta survives. On Reaping Day, Haymitch's name is drawn, but Peeta immediately volunteers to take his place. Haymitch reveals that the tributes are angry about being forced to return to the Games and will most likely attempt to stop it. For her pre-Games interview, Katniss wears a wedding dress, as ordered by Snow, but her stylist Cinna sets it to transform into a symbol of a mockingjay. Peeta announces that he and Katniss, who had previously announced their engagement during their Victory Tour in an unsuccessful attempt to quell the Districts, are expecting a child. The citizens then protest for the Games to be stopped to no avail. Just before Katniss enters the arena, Cinna is severely beaten by Peacekeepers in front of her as punishment for his tampering with her dress and then dragged away.

In the Games, Katniss allies with District 4 tributes Finnick Odair and the elderly Mags, his mentor. When the arena's forcefield shocks Peeta, stopping his heart, Finnick revives him. The group is then forced to flee from a poisonous fog; when Peeta cannot go on, Mags sacrifices herself so that Finnick can help him. When mandrills attack, Peeta is saved by the unexpected sacrifice of a hiding tribute. The group escapes to the beach, where Finnick greets District 3's Wiress and Beetee and District 7's Johanna Mason. Wiress repeats the phrase "tick-tock", leading Katniss to realize that the arena is designed like a clock, with unchanging hazards each hour contained within their respective zones. Wiress's throat is slit by Gloss, one of the Careers. Gloss is then fatally shot by Katniss while Johanna kills his sister, Cashmere. Finnick is injured by another Career, and the Gamemakers spin the clock to disorient the tributes.

Beetee suggests luring the rest of the Careers to the wet beach and electrocuting them, which was how he himself previously won the Games. The group separates to prepare the trap. When Brutus and Enobaria emerge, Johanna cuts the tracker out of Katniss' arm and flees. Katniss finds an unconscious Beetee. Unable to recover Peeta, and hearing a cannon (Peeta killing Brutus), Katniss almost kills Finnick, thinking he betrayed them, but he reminds her to remember who the real enemy is. Katniss attaches some wire to an arrow and shoots it into the arena's roof just as lightning strikes a nearby tree to which the wire is attached. The roof of the arena breaks and the lightning strike paralyzes Katniss and incapacitates Finnick. It also causes a power failure that brings down the dome and disables the security cameras, preventing the Capitol from observing the events.

Katniss awakens in a hovercraft with an unconscious Beetee. She finds Haymitch, Finnick, and Plutarch Heavensbee, the new head Gamemaker, who reveals himself to be a rebel against Snow. Katniss learns they are bound for District 13, the headquarters of the rebellion, and that half the tributes were recruited to help Katniss escape, as she is the symbol of the growing rebellion. After further learning that Peeta and Johanna could not be rescued and are now captives in the Capitol, Katniss furiously attacks Haymitch for not keeping his promise to protect Peeta, but is quickly sedated. She awakens to find Gale by her side. He assures her that her family is safe, but also reveals that District 12 has been destroyed after Snow was made aware of the rebels' plot.

SCORE

In October 2012, composer James Newton Howard confirmed that he would return to score the film. The score album was released on November 25, 2013. All songs written and composed by James Newton Howard, except "We're a Team" (co-written by Coldplay band members: Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin.) 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Katniss"	1:42
2.	"I Had to Do That"	2:22
3.	"We Have Visitors"	3:01
4.	"Just Friends"	1:29
5.	"Mockingjay Graffiti"	1:44
6.	"The Tour"	5:56
7.	"Daffodil Waltz"	0:26
8.	"Waltz in A (Op. 39, No. 15)"	0:43
9.	"Fireworks"	3:05
10.	"Horn of Plenty"	0:36
11.	"Peacekeepers"	5:55
12.	"Prim"	2:08
13.	"A Quarter Quell"	2:05
14.	"Katniss is Chosen"	3:18
15.	"Introducing the Tributes"	1:29
16.	"There's Always a Flaw"	1:48
17.	"Bow and Arrow"	1:07
18.	"We're a Team"	1:52
19.	"Let's Start"	2:02
20.	"The Games Begin"	4:43
21.	"Peeta's Heart Stops"	2:10
22.	"Treetops"	1:22
23.	"The Fog"	4:58
24.	"Monkey Mutts"	4:44
25.	"Jabberjays"	1:33
26.	"I Need You"	3:57
27.	"Broken Wire"	3:53
28.	"Arena Crumbles"	1:43
29.	"Good Morning Sweetheart"

 

Critical response

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire received very positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 90% based on reviews from 286 professional critics, with a rating average of 7.58/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Smart, smoothly directed, and enriched with a deeper exploration of the franchise's thought-provoking themes, Catching Fire proves a thoroughly compelling second installment in the Hunger Games series." It was the highest rated science fiction/fantasy movie of the year on the website. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 76 (indicating "generally favorable reviews") based on 49 reviews. According to polls conducted during the opening weekend by CinemaScore, the average grade audiences gave the film was an A, on an A+ to F scale.

The Hollywood Reporter said that the film has received "generally positive reviews" and CNN reported that reviews were "overwhelmingly positive" but noted that "an overarching complaint" was that it "runs needlessly long ... and the screenplay and direction do occasionally fall short." Entertainment Weekly said the consensus was that the sequel is "a more-confident, more-polished movie that delves deeper into Panem's political conflict". It also reported, "Critics are impressed that [Lawrence] commits to Katniss just as much as she would a complex David O. Russell character."

Writing for The Village Voice, Stephanie Zacharek praised Jennifer Lawrence's performance, writing that the actress is "both on fire and in the process of becoming, and it’s magnificent to watch." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 3.5 stars out of four and said, "Pop-culture escapism can be thrilling when dished out by experts. Katniss is a character worth a handful of sequels. And Lawrence lights up the screen. You'll follow her anywhere." He also commended supporting actors Sam Claflin and Jena Malone. Reviewing on Roger Ebert's website, Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today awarded the film three out of four stars, praising the acting of Jeffrey Wright, Amanda Plummer and Jena Malone and referring to the challenges of the arena as "visually intriguing." Wloszczyna writes: "...the one truly fresh invention—and the one that matters most—is Katniss herself. With each on-screen chapter, the poor girl from District 12 continues to fulfill her destiny as an inspiration and a rebel fighter." Ian Nathan of Empire gave the film 4 stars out of 5 and noted that it was even better than the first film. He praised director Lawrence for "taking a more muscular approach" and "sensibly downplaying" the love triangle, noting that "neither [Peeta nor Gale], quite frankly, are fit to lay a pinky on [Katniss'] quiver". One fault he did find was in Philip Seymour Hoffman's "surprisingly ineffective performance".

A negative review came from Sophie Monks Kaufman of Little White Lies, who praised Lawrence's performance but criticized the "dilution of the ingredients that made The Hunger Games so gripping." She also found fault with the "lumbering" plot, the "hamminess" of President Snow and Plutarch Heavensbee and the "lackluster and unconvincing script culled from a dramatically difficult book". David Denby of The New Yorker argued that the premise "doesn't make a lot of sense". He praised the "impressive" first act and Jennifer Lawrence, for "project[ing] the kind of strength that Katharine Hepburn had when she was young." Denby found the second act "attenuated and rhythmless" and criticised the "incoherent" finale that "will send the audience scurrying back to the book to find out what’s supposed to be going on".