film review: catching fire
The much anticipated second instalment of The Hunger Games series, Catching Fire has set the Australian box office well and truly alight, raking in over $12.4 million at the weekend.
Catching Fire’s intensity has not waned one bit as many other ill-fated sequels have. The acting, themes and relationships have gone one step further in complexity, surprisingly developed for Suzanne Collins’ trilogy intended for an audience of children and young adults.
With Francis Lawrence in the director’s chair, famous for directing the post-apocalyptic film I Am Legend and music videos for the likes of Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas, this film’s aesthetic quality is astounding, with better CGI than the last.
Katniss Everdeen, a 17-year-old skilled archer from the poor District 12, played by Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook and Winter’s Bone), has returned home reluctantly victorious from the deadly 74th Annual Hunger Games with her fellow tribute and ‘star-crossed lover’ Peeta Mellark, played by Josh Hutcherson (Red Dawn). Shortly after their return, they are summoned for the ‘Victor’s Tour’ of the districts, once again leaving their family and friends unprotected.
Along their tour they face the families of the game’s slain teens and some crowds unconvinced of their love story. It soon becomes evident that a rebellion among the repressed districts is gaining strength, and Katniss is their unassuming symbol of hope.
In an effort to destroy the rebellion and Katniss, the dictator President Snow (Donald Sutherland) plots the next Hunger Games which will see her and tributes from the past 25 years return to the slaying ring they thought they’d escaped forever.
This film is more emotionally charged and darker than the last. A certain element of darkness has eased, with the confronting visuals of children bludgeoning and stabbing one another removed, replaced rather with young adults, the middle-aged and the elderly fighting to the death. The decline of gore has created room for the exploration of themes briefly touched on in the first instalment.
Suffering from what could only be described as post-traumatic stress, Katniss returns as a shaken protagonist driven to the point of hysteria. In constant fear for the safety of her family, her teenage innocence is no longer there. The unrelenting and cruel fate-deciders in post-apocalyptic nation of Panem (present day North America) throw obstacles her way at the worst of times. At her best, she is a strong, calculating and humble heroine. Through her eyes, the Capitol no longer sparkles with glitter but drips with sickening gluttony and obsession with the exterior. Jennifer Lawrence’s portrayal of a shaken, multilayered teen is proof she deserves that Oscar.
Catching Fire speaks volumes about our society’s fascination with the cult of celebrity, image and the personal and potentially constructed stories of reality television show stars.
For those few who have life after the Hunger Games, nothing returns to normality. Sweetened with riches, the tributes ‘live’ an existence inside a tightly controlled and cultivated celebrity image, acting as propaganda tools for the Capitol. Katniss realises she has not escaped by winning the games, but has become stuck in a tightly controlled existence when her alcoholic mentor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) tells her, ‘This trip doesn’t end when you get back home’. Acting, deception and publicity stunts to save one’s neck build a mountain of lies on top of Katniss and Peeta’s constructed love story.
The humanising of the other tributes is a welcome addition to the film. Catching Fire introduces the intelligent Beetee (Jeffrey Wright) and Wiress (Amanda Plummer), popular Finnck (Sam Claflin), and the unpredictable Johanna (Jena Malone), all equally angered they’re forced to return to the games. The love triangle between Katniss, Peeta and Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) couldn’t get any more complicated.
The Hunger Games series sets a precedent for more strong female leads like Katniss in both blockbuster sci-fi and young adult films. Unlike other highly successful youth film franchises like Harry Potter and the Twilight saga, this series makes new ground in terms of female leads – ground hopefully many others will begin to explore.
