"The Best Tween Movie" Is Not Really Saying Much

Rating: 5/10 (20 December 2013)

I'll preface the review for Catching Fire by firstly saying that I absolutely disliked the first entry ("hate" might be too strong of a word to use in this case). At the end of the day, this series is a light version of similar, but much more brutal, stories (Battle Royale, for example), which is why it's just a YA adaptation and nothing more. Catching Fire promised a darker and more unforgiving tone, and it succeeded in some respect. Whereas the first film felt like a cheesy film for innocent teenagers (especially once we arrive at the tedious hunger games), this one finally builds some intrigue and substance by introducing the whole political realm behind this world, focusing on the corruption and the manipulation of its people therein.
In fact, there are incredibly resonant and strong themes that could be find throughout the film. For instance, the act of constantly providing coverage on a very popular celebrity- the people eat it up- and in the meantime, the Capitol is able to get away with the evil that's practiced behind the doors. The entire concept draws quite noticeable parallels to our contemporary world as the 99% concentrate on Jennifer Lawrence's new look or her recent interviews at the last red carpet, completely forgetting their lowly stature in current society. See, it takes all the attention off of the government's wrongdoings. So, hopefully, its core demographic (teenagers living within conservative families) actually take note of these analogies and find something more in this "tween flick" other than the usual fare you'll discover in the standard young adult novels.
Anyways, a considerable portion of the film actually centers on this fascinating premise until we leave all the meaningful material (the filmmakers, at that point, recalling that this is a Hollywood movie and there needs to be action for the sake of entertaining the teens) by straying into the predictable, boring, and excessively prolonged section that is the hunger games. The hunger games should be the whole point of the movie, right? Unfortunately, it's an atrocious point nonetheless. Again, this motion picture is another YA (young adult) adaptation that is heavily toned and dumbed down for the pure teens and kids who're seeing this as the darkest and most brutal film they've ever witnessed. The entire hunger games sequence is utterly predictable (which was one of the greatest issues I had with its predecessor). No one of real significance meets death; they all conveniently survive the dangers of these games. I'll even go out on a limb and say no major character is going to die by the end of the series. Apparently, the audience would be traumatized if their favorites didn't manage to escape the island, which really makes the games fairly superfluous. Look, with such a dour concept, I really need to be seeing an abundance of blood, death, and hopelessness (you're all probably gasping by now). Otherwise, it's sheer pointlessness and doesn't deliver on what it clearly promises.
As if that wasn't a transparent indicator of a YA feature, we thankfully get another forced (teenagers eat this up, which I frankly find laughable) love triangle. Can we, for once, have a female protagonist that's serious and determined to solve the conflict without involving herself in some unneeded romance with generic pretty boys? If females really don't take issue with this element, that is probably why there aren't a lot of particularly memorable females in cinema when compared to the amount of male badasses. Seriously, if every female character is a total slut, I'm not going to look up to them, and I certainly won't like them. (The feminist movement will be on me anytime soon now.) Do even the female badasses really- really- have to deal with this teenage angst bullsh*t?
When we're looking at the performances, I found Phillip Seymour Hoffman a definite highlight as he frequently is. I might be in the minority here, but Jennifer Lawrence is just trying too hard at this point. She tries to fill her performances with overly dramatic scenes (incessantly crying, screaming for five minutes, etc.). Perhaps, it's the actor's own willingness to expose herself so often- through every interview and red carpet appearance- that I just don't find her that convincing when she enables her "I'm an Oscar-winning actress" mode. A lot of the other characters are terribly bland, but I enjoyed Woody Harrelson's and Elizabeth Bank's performances on the other hand.
Furthermore, and somewhat most importantly, the movie is just too long, especially once it hits the hunger games, which seem to drag on forever. All in all, the only interesting aspect of this film was emphasized in its first hour (even then, there's an artificial love triangle subplot tossed in there) and probably the only intelligent content you'll find in any YA adaptation. Yes, the narrative is beautifully shot- I'll give it that- eliminating the distracting shaky-cam action from the first one, but that only marginally improves the film's quality when you're required to deal with a principally uninteresting storyline. If you're a fanboy of the books, you'll probably end up enjoying the film as you did the first one (I suspect that's why these two movies have been getting such unusually high praise). If you're not, you'll likely end up uttering the phrase "Battle Royale with cheese" at least once.