I Saw Catching Fire

Thursday night I met up with some friends in Lawrence to see Catching Fire at an 11:15 showing. We had dinner first at Five Guys, then spent two hours standing in various lines at the movie theater, playing charades with our phone, before we settle into the theater for the movie. Even if the movie ended up being awful, the night was so much fun.

But the movie wasn't awful. In fact it was amazing. I would dare say even perfect. I wasn't completely taken with the first movie. It wasn't awful by any means, but I left the theater feeling fairly unsatisfied. This one did not.

This movie goes to show how important a director is to a movie. All the actors were the same, but the director was different, and the performances feel more organic than forced. All the actors seem to be more comfortable in their roles and do great gobs. A lot of new characters are introduced in this installment, and there was some concern that Finnick wouldn't be done right. Sam Claflin nailed it. The movie has a ton of awesome, respected actors in roles--Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson.

The movies gets going and doesn't stop. A few things were rearranged from the book, but they worked well and didn't alter anything. My excitement for this movie was a bit tempered after the first one; that one had a lot of build up between my friends and I and I was underwhelmed. I went it with a lot less expectation and came out completely captivated. 

And I must say that Josh Hutcherson's performance and look of Peeta is much better. He's an attractive guy in real life, but that blonde hair does not do him any favors. He's thankfully spared any Miami Vice-like costumes or too-slicked back hair in this one. And, as my sister succinctly put it, no lame cave scenes.