A rare sequel that surpasses the original

Rating: 9/10 (22 November 2013)

Catching Fire will take its place alongside other legendary movie sequels that outdid their original (The Empire Strikes Back, Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers, The Godfather Part 2 and others).
The author of the series, Suzanne Collins, has said that she came up with the idea for the trilogy while channel surfing. She said she saw a reality show where contestants get voted off along side real footage of Middle Eastern violence and she said "Why not combine the two?" Much of the original was spent setting the scene and context for the reaping and for a future America divided into 12 districts. "Catching Fire" immediately jumps into Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Melaark's world as they try to come to some sort of normalcy post victory. As such, it's a movie that's highly recommended but only if you have seen the first movie or have at least read the book.
All of the memorable characters return from the first movie though this time they've been pumped up several megawatts on the "over the top" scale. Caesar and Effie in particular set new heights for wardrobe outrageousness.
And of course, the wicked President Snow returns, so wonderfully realized by Donald Sutherland. This time he's angered by Katniss and Peeta and desperate to stifle the hope and rebellion of all the citizens of Panem. To that end he proposes a twist on the Quarter Quell for the Hunger Games, that all the tributes will come from a pool of previous victors.
The Quarter Quell brings up the main instance where "Catching Fire" outshines the original. In the first movie, many of the tributes were ordinary youngsters tossed into the killing arena. Most of them were painted in broad, one-dimensional strokes. "Catching Fire" introduces the exciting characters Finnick (portrayed stunningly by Sam Claflin) and Johanna (Jena Malone), among others.
Novel adaptation purists will appreciate that very little was altered or sensationalized from the translation of book to cinema. And "Catching Fire" manages to end in an exciting way that ties up loose ends but at the same time stokes the fires for the resolution (Mockingjay).