{Movie Review} Movie Monday #19: Catching Fire

We all delight in seeing our favorite books brought to life on the big screen.  We cringe at casting.  We scoff at release dates.  All the while, we're gearing up to see if the director's vision lives up to the world we've conceived in our own imaginations.  Sometimes it does...and sometimes it doesn't.  We could lament the movies that don't measure up, or we could return to the books for a re-read, possibly with a slightly different mind-set.  All's fair when it comes to artistic vision, right?





This week, I'm featuring the following adaptation:

Title: Catching Fire
Director: Francis Lawrence
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Sam Claflin
Release date: November 22, 2013
Based on: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.

I purposely didn't re-read Catching Fire prior to seeing the movie.  I'm always disappointed when I do that because it makes it that much easier to pick up on all the things that an adaptation is lacking.  But with this movie, I honestly don't think anything was missing.  The power, the message, the emotion of the book...it was all there for the world to see in the movie.

Jennifer Lawrence is just awesome.  I don't even really think I need to go into that because you've seen her act, you've seen the interviews, and you've seen her spaz out over meeting Jeff Bridges.  She is the girl you want to be best friends with.  Sam Claflin as Finnick was Finnick.  Holy hotness!  And lots of people are finally giving Josh Hutcherson the praise he deserves after his role in this sequel, but I've been a fan since Bridge to Terabithia.  I cried like nobody's business at the end of that movie, and I know he'll have me crying again in Mockingjay.

But what really surprised me, though, is how much I love Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket.  Admittedly, I kind of despised this character in the books because of what she and the Capitol stood for, but when brought to life on the big screen, I can see her character for what she really is:  a woman who is only now witnessing the horrible injustices served up at the hands of the Capitol.  Effie was oblivious to it all before the Quarter Quell, I think, and that doesn't make it alright, but now her eyes are open and she's come to think of Katniss, Peeta and even Haymitch as family.

Oh, and the costumes, especially Effie's...I think they were even more elaborate and gorgeous and just stunning this time around.  I mean that twirling "girl on fire" dress in the first movie was amazing, but the dress with the mockingjay wings?  That was beyond impressive.  And the statement it makes!  The costume designers on these movies are simply amazing.

I'm hoping to see the movie again with my sister to pick up on all the nuances I missed while I was fangirling the first time around.  Also, she's pissed that I saw it without her, especially since I was the one who got her to read the series in the first place.  Oops.  =)  But maybe I'll re-read before I see it this time.  Just in case I really did miss something.

All in all, I thought the movie was absolutely brilliant.  The cast and the acting were phenomenal, even better than in the first movie, and even though this movie isn't quite as sad and emotionally draining as the story in the first, my eyes still welled up a few times.  These adaptations are really living up to the supremely high expectations the books set for them. My only complaint is that I wish the final book weren't being split into two movies.  :(

Have you read the book?  Have you seen the movie?  How do you think this one fared as an adaptation?