A terrible film: overlong, badly acted, with a cheap rip-off storyline

Rating: 2/10 (11 January 2016)

I didn't think much of the first HUNGER GAMES film but nonetheless I was interested to see how this sequel, CATCHING FIRE, held up. The answer is that it's even worse than the first film, a pointless retread of the first film's storyline that bears more than a passing resemblance to the two Japanese BATTLE ROYALE movies.
Once again an ultra slow pacing and ultra lengthy running time combine to make this a near unwatchable slice of boredom. It's incredible that in the whole first hour and a half of the film absolutely nothing happens other than to set the scene and the mood. It becomes instantly apparent that more care was taken with the incessant costume changes and scenery rather than the calibre of the script or the acting, because both are truly mind-numbing.
Eventually the action kicks in towards the end of the film, but it's all as uninteresting and CGI augmented as you'd expect; the 12 certificate just isn't right for a film with this subject matter. Jennifer Lawrence remains a bland and wooden presence as the protagonist, and Josh Hutcherson is even worse; at least newcomers like Jeffrey Wright and Sam Claflin bring a little charisma to their parts. In addition, one of the most unforgivable things about CATCHING FIRE is that it has no ending at all, just a plot development that leads to the next in the series. It's a real cheat.