It’s been eighteen years since Suzanne Collins wrote “The Hunger Games”, the smash hit literary sensation that continues to feel relevant and capture the attention of readers. This ongoing series will be a review series of both the Suzanne Collins books, as well as the film adaptations of the novels. I will post my review on the last Thursday of the month as we revisit the totalitarian world of Panem and the hope of the Mockingjay.
Film: “Catching Fire”
Okay, so perhaps you are thinking ‘now wait a moment, doesn’t Kate usually update her Fire’s Catching posts at the end of the month, not the middle?’ And you would be correct! But in the interest of honesty, I am presently on an Alaskan cruise with my family, and I ended up not finishing the book I had planned for today. So I decided to switch around that book with my review/thoughts on the film “Catching Fire”, and will go back to my regularly scheduled timeline next month. So here we are with me talking about a really fun film which, I think, is one of the few to improve upon the source material. Yes that’s right, this is the film that I prefer to the book version of “The Hunger Games” Series.
And I feel like there is good reason for that! For one, I think that while the book kind of saves the Quarter Quell for a bit later in the text, I feel like the build up is a bit more balanced with the pay off of another Games in the film. I like the expanded lore of District 12 in the book and how the focus is bit more on the tricky balance Katniss is trying to walk during her Victory Tour as well as the escalation of state sanctioned violence in her home (and other districts), but ultimately I liked having more time to marinate with the Victor tributes and the games itself. It also felt there was less hemming and hawwing about who Katniss could trust and who she couldn’t, and that is probably because we aren’t in a first person (understandably) paranoid dissection view of her rivals.
I also appreciated the amount of time that my boy Plutarch Heavensbee gets on screen, played by the perfect Philip Seymour Hoffman (I’m still devastated that we lost him twelve years ago). I’ve talked a lot about how Plutarch is a top three character for me, and on the screen we get to see a bit more of how he is operating as the Head Gamemaker, and how he is ultimately laying pieces in place to set a revolution in motion by manipulating Snow so perfectly. There is a bit more subtlety to him here as well, as he hints to Katniss what his plan is in a much sneakier way than he did in the books, and how he works like a snake in the grass. Hoffman is just the perfect casting for one of, if not the most, complicated characters in the universe, and he shines in every scene he is in and with every person he interacts with.
I also gotta shout out to my girl Johanna Mason! I actually found her a bit more likable in the movie than in the book, and that is also probably mostly due to her actress, Jena Malone. Yes, she is cutthroat and a bit of an asshole (again, understandably so), but Malone brings a streak of vulnerability to her that makes the viewer feel for her as she is pulled into another Games, especially given how much she suffered in the aftermath of her own. Actually, the casting in this one is successful all around! Whether it’s Jeffrey Wright as Beetee or Amanda Plummer as Wiress, the Victors are all engaging even if their screen time is limited.
“Catching Fire” is another great film adaptation for this series! Next month (hopefully back on schedule) I will talk about “Mockingjay: Part One”!
The Library Ladies 