Catching Fire. A Terribly Great Movie.

Catching Fire was a better movie than I expected. In fact, it is a good movie. It is predictable at times, but overall it executes the plot well. Don't expect something fast paced though. With a running time of 146 minutes, the movie seems to run slower and slower towards the end. As soon as the action picks up, the movie ends.

I know that it is hard to pack a long book into a movie, but I feel like it could have been done better. Just like the first movie, they spent a lot of time setting the scene. In Catching Fire they could have spent less time on exposition and more time on telling the larger 2nd and 3rd acts. While the characters were in the wilderness, the movie started to get confusing and seemed to lose the plot. I wasn’t able to tell what was really going on. It seemed like the filmmakers left out bits and pieces that would have helped explain what was going on.

In the end, I would recommend this movie to any Hunger Games fans, or  moviegoers who are willing to jump in without context. It is a good film that could stand on its own if it needed to. I would recommend seeing it this Thanksgiving, if you get your tickets online before the showing. Otherwise I would wait till it comes on out on DVD to see it. There were quite a lot of people in the theatre two days after it came out. Go get Hungery.

Personal rating: 6/10. It just didn’t capture my attention enough times throughout.

Objective rating: 8/10. It had good structure and good conflict which really added to the effect.

When to watch it: On DVD if you’re a casual fan. In the theatres if you’re a die-hard fan.