Catching Fire

[Spoilers Ahead]
Something has caught fire. You may have heard of it. It's called The Hunger Games. A trio of books (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay) by author Suzanne Collins were originally published in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Even my mom is now reading them. To be honest I didn't know a thing about them until I saw the trailer for this first film. To say the least, I was intrigued. Wal-Mart had a paperback copy for sale for 6 bucks which is exactly what I had made in tips that day so I purchased the first book. Wow. Honestly, I haven't been that hooked on a book in years. Nearly 400 pages, and I finished in two days (which is quick considering I work and am in school). I finished Catching Fire in even less time, and even prefer it to the first book. Mockingjay had its moments, including fleshing out my favorite character (Finnick), however I would say it was the weakest link of the trilogy primarily in it's shoddy wrapping up of the story (I'm lookin' at you, last two chapters and completely unnecessary epilogue). The whole love triangle thing got way old, and was unoriginal to begin with, though I'm proud to say I figured out who Katniss (the protagonist) would end up with several chapters prior to the conclusion.

The movie wasn't too bad. A midnight showing is always fun, though perhaps less so when the only two seats next to each other are at the center of the front row, but hey I got to go with my beautiful wife. The movie was very true to the book, perhaps even to a fault. My favorite scenes were actually the few that were not in the book (the relationship between President Snow and Seneca Crane, the riot in District 11, the gamemakers at work). I think the biggest weakness was the feeling of simply going down a checklist (...now Katniss get stung by tracker jackers, now she forms an alliance with Rue, now Katniss blows up the Career's supply, etc.) instead of taking their time. At 2 hours and 22 minutes it felt rushed. A Lord of the Rings runtime would have felt more appropriate and probably worked better artistically. The lead actors were ok, though nothing spectacular. It was Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci who stole the show, in my opinion.

As for the controversy... Too many people are too easily offended these days. Yes, the story does involved children 12-18 years of age killing each other, and some finding joy in doing so. However this is not the focus of the story. The focus is the government which forces these gladiator-like battles on children. The story is supposed to make us think about our current relationship with our government and what we deem acceptable and/or tolerable. The fact of the matter is that Collins is not promoting violence to children. She is promoting individuality, and critical reasoning, and activism, and courage... which are things we too often set aside while we prefer to be thoughtless lemmings.

The first book in the series is a MUST READ. The movie is not vital, though an enjoyable escape.