SPLICED MOVIES /
REVIEW / THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE
ISSUE 02
by Isaac Kosmides
Katniss
Everdeen is back to battle for her life in the
second round of the Hunger Games trilogy.
Watch
the
trailer
During filming for
the film, Jennifer
Lawrence got an ear
infection from all
the time spent in the
water. Being the badass that she is, she
never got it checked
out by a doctor (for
3 weeks), and during
the filming of the
spinning cornucopia
scene the immense
water pressure
from the hurricane
water punctured her
eardrum.
The second instalment provides a
more strategic insight into the blood
sport, with President Snow and the
powers of Panem changing the rules for
the 75th Anniversary in a thinly-veiled
attempt at quelling the looming civilian
uprising by pitting previous victors
against each other in the hopes that
Katniss, the reluctant beacon of hope
amongst the districts, would be killed.
It’s aptly entitled the Quarter Quell
Games. This is announced mostly to
the surprise of the other victors who
had been promised a sheltered life
of luxury and freedom after having
survived the games in previous years.
The escalation of the storyline
makes this sequel more compelling in
that it takes a larger view on the politics
behind the games instead of simply
re-hashing the same plot. The formula
is evident, but the premise is enthralling
enough to sustain it. The discontented
districts are edging dangerously close
to revolution. As a result, the Capitol
now desperately scramble to plug
the cracks beginning to show in their
tyrannical bravado. As Katniss and
Peeta take their introductory pre-game
lap, the imminent uprising becomes
evident with an increasingly defiant
backlash by the citizens of the districts,
unwittingly spearheaded by the antisocial Katniss.
Seeing as all the participants of
the 74th games (including the games
master) died in the previous bout, this
brings a slew of new heavy-weights,
all of which have proven their mettle
in being able to fight to the death.
Amongst them, Nuts and Volts; the
genius duo who in their respective
years won through strategic (if
mentally unhinged) cunning and the
manipulation of science and traps to
defeat their opponents. Johanna (Jena
Malone) the axe-wielding femme fatale
whose allegiances couldn’t be trusted
any more than her emotional instability.
Mags, a benevolent 80 year old mute
and her charge Finnick (Sam Claflin),
the charming showboat and Katniss’
unintended ally who managed to win
his year at the age of 14. Here, the real
muscle comes in with the casting; in
a multi-award winning supporting
cast led by the ever-impressive Philip
Seymour Hoffman as the games master
hired to ensure the odds are ever in the
Capitol’s favour. This is also where my
major disappointment in the movie is
based. The new tributes are outlined
as the most cunning and ruthless the
games have to offer, likewise they are
played by some of the most versatile
talent that celluloid has to offer - yet
they’re sidelined by the CGI and the
incessant stoicism of Katniss. I was
hoping to see more of the individual
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