One of the best book-to-movie adaptations in recent years.

Rating: 9/10 (23 November 2013)

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was EVERYTHING I HOPED IT WOULD BE AND MORE.
The wait was definitely worth it.
The scale was amped up to the extreme. Everything was BIGGER, BRIGHTER AND DEFINITELY BETTER than the first movie. The costumes, the sets, the cornucopia, the symbolism. Everything. The stakes are much higher this time around and you can actually feel the gravity of the situation because of the brilliant directing and acting. And oh my God, the acting in this movie was PHENOMENAL. Everyone brought their A game to the set.
JENNIFER LAWRENCE, YOU ARE AN ACTING GODDESS. Seriously, she IS Katniss through and through. She owns that character and nobody is even in the same league as her. In only the first 5 minutes of the movie, I started shaking. Her fear, her vulnerability her stubbornness. She nailed it on the head! Josh Hutcherson did a great job as Peeta and Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), and Effie (Elizabeth Backs) totally transformed into their characters so awesomely. Gale (Liam Hemsworth) felt a lot more human in this movie and pulled off the character well. Finnick and Johanna were freaking awesome! Perfect casting in my opinion. Jena Malone's acting was one of the best parts of this movie. She embodied the character to the tee; her fierceness, fiery attitude and her unforgiving demeanor. And Sam Claflin was smoldering hot, and sassy yet vulnerable at the same time; everything Finnick is. Donald Sutherland and Phillip Seymour Hoffman were SO GOOD. You could actually feel the 'EVIL' flowing through their veins. And Stanley Tucci is Stanley Tucci. Perfect as always.
Now on to the plot. The story picks after the 74th games, when the victors have to go on the Victory tour. And it is here when the start of the rebellion begins and Katniss decides which side she wants to be on. First of all I have to say, Francis Lawrence did an absolutely brilliant job with this movie. The symbolism, and parallelism present in this really hit you hard. I was so impressed by how much he managed to cover and how stunning everything looked. The visuals and the CGI were definitely an upgrade from the first one and it all looked fantastic. I was also super surprised to hear so many direct quotes from the book, included in the script (something which the previous movie seriously lacked!)
The Music Score was good. Nothing that exhilarating about it except for maybe Panem's Nation Anthem. It sounded even more majestic than before.
The costumes this time round were stunning! Trish Summervile really outdid herself by designing so many gorgeous and unique outfits for the film. I really hope she gets considered for an Oscar.
All in all Catching Fire was a FANTASTIC movie and I think it is one of the best book-to-screen adaptations ever made. Francis Lawrence did an amazing job and Jennifer Lawrence just owned this movie. I give it an A- Can't wait for Mockingjay!