Lawrence Highlights Hunger Games

Catching Fire, the second film in The Hunger Games series, debuted in theaters on November 22.

Catching Fire follows Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark as they are forced to re-enter the Annual Hunger Games, also known as the Third Quarter Quell, along with other past victors.

While they are in the arena, the districts rebel against the oppression of the Capitol. Katniss survives the games with help from her new friends Beetee Latier, Johanna Mason, and Finnick Odair. Katniss is rescued from the arena by a hovercraft at the end of the movie. It is revealed that her mentor Haymitch Abernathy and Head Game Maker Pultarch Heavensbee had a plot to over throw the Capitol. In order to do this, they needed Katniss to be the symbol of rebellion for the districts.

Haymitch and Pultarch rescue Finnick, Beetee, and Katniss but fail to rescue Johanna and the one person Katniss wanted to keep safe: Peeta. In the end, Pultarch explains to Katniss that they are taking her to District 13, which Katniss thought did not exist. The movie closes with Katniss’ best friend, Gale Hawthorne, breaking the news to Katniss that the Capitol bombed her home district, District 12, destroying it.

If you are a fan of the Hunger Games you will love this movie.

The first Hunger Games movie was a disappointment. Catching Fire has sparked new hope; the movie is well made and sticks closely to the book. There are scenes in the movie that reminded me of what I actually visualized while reading the story. Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Katniss Everdeen, did a fantastic job; the character expresses a wide range of emotions during the film. Lawrence nailed it and added a little bit of herself to the character. At some points the movie is genuinely frightening and disturbing. However, I do believe the movie over did the romance between Katniss and Gale. It distracted from her true feelings about Peeta that she begins to express in the book.

I would not recommend this movie for children under 10 because the story could be hard to follow, and there is quite a bit of violence.

This movie is not be easy to watch without background knowledge of the previous book and movie; however, it is still interesting.