Daily Dose of Happiness :): Movie Review!


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Movie Title : The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Duration : 2 hours and 26 minutes

Director : Francis Lawrence

Cast : Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark), Liam

Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne), Donald Sutherland (President Snow), Woody
Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy)

Plot

This movie is adapted from the second book of the trilogy The Hunger Games written by Suzanne Collins.

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The main idea of the story is that in the country of Panem every year there is an annual game called The Hunger Games, in which every district in Panem, from 1 to 12, must deliver two tributes, one male and one female. These tributes must try to win by fighting against each other to death or by surviving the natural environments inside the arena. The games were invented in the past to stop the rebellion against the Capitol, showing that the districts would not have the ability to destroy their capital city.

In the first movie it was told the two tributes from District 12, Katnis Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, had won the 74th Hunger Games. It was the first time, since usually there could only be one winner. This act was seen as a threat by President Snow, the President of Panem. Because of it, districts around Panem had started to rebel against the rules in their respective districts.

The second movie continues the story, as the two victors of District 12, Katniss and Peeta, must go on a victory tour across all districts to gush on their victory and pay respect to the family of the fallen tributes. As the tour goes, they realize the conditions in the districts have changed. There are many rumors of the rebellion may happen again.

A shocking turn of event happens, as it is announced that the 75th Hunger Games or The Third Quarter Quell will be reaping tributes from the districts' existing pool of victors. Katniss, who is the only female victor from District 12, and Haymitch are chosen as the tributes for the Quarter Quell. But Peeta volunteered for Haymitch so he can go back to the arena with Katniss.

They are met with highly skilled and experienced victors and are fighting obstacles in the arena which are more dangerous than last year's. In the arena, they find people who are willing to be their allies and work together to fight against the enemies' side.In the games, Katniss also tries to figure out her feelings for his on screen lover, Peeta. The person she wants to survive from this year's Games. But at the same time she also wants to protect the people from back home, her mother, her sister, and her best friend, Gale. This caused her to have conflicting feelings throughout the games. In the end, Katniss tries to end the game by destroying the arena. She wakes up after being unconscious for several days inside a room, where she finds out that her district has been destroyed and she is transferred to District 13, a district which was thought to be obliterated by the cause of rebellion.

Personal Review

Personally, I think this movie is a great mixture of imagination, action, and also a little bit of romance. The book itself was already genius and the way the director transformed it into a movie was brilliant.

Because it is a pretty complicated story, it is recommended to either read the book or watch the first movie before watching this. What I like the most from the story is how it shows the struggle of a person that wants to make a change. Katniss uses her ability to take down the people she hates the most, which is The Capitol. This movie portrays a heroine who are willing to do anything for the people she loves. Also the romance inside the story is pretty unexpected, seeing it involves many conflicting feelings.

The actors played their roles very well. Jennifer Lawrence, who played the main character, Katniss Everdeen, really gets the part of a girl who wants to make a fight, but at the same time broken from all the things she has been through. Her chemistry with Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peeta is amazing. The clothes for some of the parts of the movie are very beautiful. Although the ones that are worn by the people in the Capitol are a little bit too much, there are some dresses worn by Jennifer Lawrence that looks stunning.

The most amazing aspect from this movie is the places and the special effects that are used. The arena was designed to look like a clock, where the Cornuccopia, is placed in the center of it. The special effects such as smoke, killer monkeys and others look like it's real. The special effects also successfully show how people are killed without making it too sadistic.

Overall, I really recommend people to watch this movie :) It's very interesting and it will make you anxious to wait for the next movie (I know I do). If I'm not convincing you enough, here are the trailers from the movie