The games continue.

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2013)

I had few problems with the first movie based on the trilogy of the books authored by Suzanne Collins. The build up was excellent. They really caught the nitty gritty of the reality shows in all its glory of their hypocrisy. And you could sense that there was something 'orwellian' about the whole setting-the bleakness, the play of power and the dearth of freedom. But then the second half happened and all the tension, all that build up was lost to a very timid climax. And all this for what? So that it could earn more bucks by decreasing the viewers' restrictions. I have never understood the criteria by which they rate the movie for the different ages of the audience. No matter how much you tone down the violence the movie, the content of the story, that is brimming with darkness, still works on the mind painting a vivid picture of gore and violence. So if physical display of violence you ban, how would you justify the mental picture of violence that draws itself as soon as the story starts? The rating system is nuts and stupid. Now coming to the movie that I am supposed to be writing about. The second part in the four installments series does everything that its predecessor does, and improves on it. It expands on its 'orwellian settings' giving a detailed bleakness to the state of the affairs and those little flowers of hope that have sprung in that tyrannical state, all thanks to earlier exploits of Jennifer Lawrence's character. The screenplay is coherent and swift and interesting despite the fact that movie is about two and a half hours long. There are few jarring notes here and there in few suspected character developments and unrealistic motives. But that could be forgiven. The ending is abrupt and that is bit of a problem. The greatest accomplishment of the movie is to sway you into that anger, helplessness and hope of the people as it simmers to the boiling point of a rebellion. And yet it makes you question the thin line between the martyrdom and cold blooded murder for the cause. Like every good dystopian world movie, you would be able to identify the roots of the present in that future. I think it did a pretty okay character study with most of the characters. Katniss is torn between safety of her family and the depressing state of the people, between her love for Gale and affection for Peeta and between the demons of the past and the present. Peeta is a disappointment. He seems to be a sort of breed between a puppy and a sitting duck. And that is a pity when so much depth could have been added to him. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is one of sequels that improves upon its predecessors in every way, but still falls short of greatness. No doubt it is braver than its predecessor, but I wish it could have been bolder.