More evocative than the first; if only there was a 9.5 option....

Rating: 10/10 (23 March 2014)

Catching Fire was simply better than the original from 2012. There was so much more emotion provided from the actors; they seemed to really be familiar with every aspect of their characters. Hats off especially to Jennifer Lawrence who always enthralls me with her acting. I also found that I felt a deeper connection with the movie; something that made me realize there was more passion put into this movie. And the omniscient screenplay that allowed us to get a glimpse into the actions of Plutarch (among others) that we did not get to see from Collins was a nice addition.
All this being said, I go back to the point I had made about The Hunger Games. If the movie is going to be true to the book, then it should be completely true. Important characters should not be excluded; there should not be alterations to events and reasons for certain events; descriptions of major things like clothing should remain true to what the author sketched out. Obviously, these are minor things that only mean I give this movie a 9.5. But, since that choice is unavailable, I very gladly dish out a 10 over a 9.
A marvelous job with the CGI and action sequences. They were never overdone and highlighted the important events. Even though a greater portion of the run time was doled out for the action than allocated in the book, it did not seem like important facets from before the Games were left out. In the book, the pre-Games chapters served to dig deeper into the world of Panem and help set up the remainder of the books. The time allotted to this in the movie was sufficient.
In summary, a brilliant job by the whole crew bringing this wonderful trilogy to life. I am thoroughly anticipating both parts of the conclusion. Watched and written 03/23/2014.