The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, & Liam Hemsworth

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Fans of the Hunger Games were dissapointed with the first movie and rightfully so. The film was pretty good, but didn't do the book justice, as it was extremely toned down and nowhere near as in depth as the book was. With a new director for the second book, they did not make the same mistake twice. As someone who has read all the books, I can tell you that Catching Fire is page for page exactly like the book. It was so amazing how much of the book is captured on the screen, as I actually saw the scenes play out the exact same way they did in my head when I first read Catching Fire. Everything down to the last detail is perfect! Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson return and are both fantastic, so good in fact, that I really wonder if Suzanne Collins had them in mind when she wrote this series. The casting is perfect, the acting is perfect, and the direction is perfect. For those of you who never read the series and didn't really see what was so special about the first film, I really suggest that you give this film a chance. I won't give anything away, but this isn't what you expect, especially the ending, and while there are two more films remaining, this will be your last look inside the arena. After Catching Fire, the series turns into something completely different and that's what I love about it. It would have been simple to have three books about the games, but the games are actually a small part of the second film, and won't take place in the next two films. Rarely do I give a film 5 stars, but the second Hunger Games film is done so much better than the first. They don't hold anything back in this one, and you are introduced to a whole other set of unique characters, that you will be seeing in the other films. The cast is brilliant and new Director, Francis Lawrence, manages to capture the essence of the book and bring it to life on the big screen, with unbelievable detail. If you didn't read the books and just don't understand what's so great about this series, go see this movie.