Good source material *spoiler*

I went to see THG: Catching Fire today with my coworker.  My post yesterday was about the first one, that I watched on Netflix in preparation for today's show.  There are good and bad points, I suppose, with watching for background v. going in with a fresh set of eyes.  The good of arming yourself with the necessary background help to get a better appreciation of Panem.  The bad is the inevitable comparison.

For the most part the story and the characters were very consistent.  Which is actually needless to say because the Catching Fire pretty much happened right after the previous movie.  But cinematography-wise, the colors are way more muted, giving off a very somber undertone.  That goes for the costumes as well, definitely not as flamboyant as it was.  Stanley Tucci's blue hair turned a darker shade of fuschia, that's how I could tell.  Also Philip Seymour Hoffman's Plutarch was darker than Seneca, and so forth.  But take comfort in the fact that Effie is still as golden as ever.  So there.

The darker palette is a foreshadow to the more 'adult' version of the Hunger Games, it being the 75th anniversary and all.  Past victors compete again in this arena of death.  Obviously I won't go into details, but the politics, the alliance, the strategizing and my personal favorite, the patterns of attack makes the game that much more cerebral and stimulating.  If anything, it reminded me of those sadistic serial killers with elaborate plan out to kill everybody from those Japanese detective/suspense/mystery stories.  If only there were more of that; perhaps in the book.

JLaw's Katniss is more developed in Catching Fire.  There is a determination that wasn't there before.  She is making choices without knowing that she is.  The twist at the end made her seem like a simple pawn.  But knowing Katniss she won't stand for it for long.  Josh Hutcherson's Peeta is same as ever.  I cringed a couple of times because he nearly died, and seemed like the weakest link.  Talk about making Katniss look good.  But the fact that he is a good and honest guy I guess is the saving grace.  In the man-eat-man world of THG, it's surprising that this simple virtue is what kept him alive.  The suit the tributes wore for the game did not leave much to the imagination.  Tight jumpsuits... the tributes looked good.

Again, due to the constraint of time and my limited creative and critical thoughts, I must come to an end with my half-baked opinion of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  I'm just glad to say that my favorite line, "I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE," made an appearance again tonight.  I giggled out loud.