Catching Fire

Last Friday, I went to see Catching Fire, the second movie of the Hunger Games trilogy, with a good friend of mine. We kind of ended up getting there under the wire, as I doubt that the movie will be in theaters for much longer as it has already been playing for a couple of months. When it originally came out, I was extremely busy with college, and I didn't know that I had anyone who would want to go with me. My brother and I went to the first one and neither of us were impressed by it, so I was a little hesitant about this one.

Much to my surprise (and delight) Catching Fire was not only much better than the first movie, but just good in general. The characters were exactly right (my friend and I especially loved the casting of Finnick Odair). Main characters from the first movie became deeper so that I could connect much more with them.The graphics and settings were impressive; this was one aspect with which I was disappointed with the first film. It seemed that with this time around, there may have been a bigger budget as the graphics looked much more real. Though not my favorite composer, James Newton Howard's main musical theme from the first film was re-used. The epic theme fits with the feel of the film. Also positive: the saying "May the odds be ever in your favor" was not overused.

I found that though two and a half hours long, this movie did not drag at all. The pacing, very similar to in the book, worked better than it had in the latter. My thought when it ended was not, "thank goodness!" but that I would like to watch it again.

Looking forward to Mockingjay.