Palaest recommended

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

nate-car I recently watched all four movies in a row, after watching them separately over the years... just in case I was missing something by not investing in the famous story and the entire epic as a whole. I now can't say I didn't try... Drab and depressing, I found all four Hunger Games movies missing almost all elements to make it memorable, enjoyable, fun, exciting, clever or 'epic' in any way. The concept from the get go made very little sense, the fictional world was not very well designed, and the rules of the universe weak and flimsy. I liked some of the cast and have been fans of several for years, but each character was hollow with very little true motivation, and the arks of their characters rarely moved beyond their first introduction. I actually lowered my stars scores after binge watching the series, because it seemed like a waste of time and the only thing it clearly indicated is, on my own personal scale '2 stars' means- "an ordinary movie that I don't want to and could not be easily convinced to ever watch again...". Which I have now given all four films.

zkonedog The first "Hunger Games" movie's popularity to each person ran roughly equal to their enjoyment of the written works. Essentially, how much you liked/disliked the book was exactly how much you liked/disliked the movie. With "Catching Fire", however, director Francis Lawrence actually turns in what may very well be a superior product to Suzanne Collins' tome.For a basic plot summary, "Catching Fire" sees Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) back from their original Hunger Games experience now living on "Panem's dime" while on the promotional tour for the next games. When President Snow (Donald Sutherland) doesn't like the symbol that Katniss may be turning into, he rigs the upcoming Quarter Quell (75th edition of the Games) with a special new set of rules unprecedented in the history of the event.While the first "Hunger Games" movie was impressive in its own right, I believe that "Catching Fire" is superior because it is a bit more "versatile". The original movie was very dark in tone and serious throughout. I have read all the books, so I completely realized that the tone is quite serious, but I really appreciated the lighter moments of "Catching Fire", those moments when I felt like it was okay to laugh or smile at something that was transpiring.The main cog in making the machine work is Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. Other great performances from characters like Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci), and Primrose Everdeen (Willow Shields) are packed with subtle nuances all their own, but it is truly Lawrence who holds this whole thing together. Her screen presence alone is a force to be reckoned with. Even if her portrayal of Katniss is quite a bit different (at least physical) from how she is portrayed in the books, Lawrence has easily made the character entirely her own.Thus, while the first movie in this series whetted my appetite for more, "Catching Fire" satiated the hunger by mixing some brevity and wit into some deadly serious subject matter. It changes the style of the series-so-far while also staying pretty true to the source material.

snperera This is such an intense and emotional ride and you better get on. The reason this is my favorite is because I believe Katniss has developed so much in this movie as a character. Spoiler Warning: She ends up having to go to the hunger games again. And when she does she shows that she will not let the Capital defeat her, no matter how many times she gets knocked down. I love the relationship between her and Peeta. He was always my favorite and he develops as a character as well. Spoiler Warning: I love the new addition of the character Finnick and he firsts seems like an enemy but than he turns out to be a good guy. This is such an action packed movie and it has a lot of heart. Really love this movie!

matrixpolaris The Hunger Games was great. Catching Fire is a masterpiece. Jennifer Lawrence is brilliant as Katniss, and Josh Hutcherson is great as Peeta. This film is a large improvement over it's predecessor, with less shaky can, and more scenes in District 12. They also toned down the love triangle, which is great. The addition of Phillip Seymour Hoffman's Plutarch Heavensbee is great, and the story-line is good as well. The Games were portrayed very well, and the action was pulse-pounding. However, the Careers were much less of a threat than in the first film, and Katniss doesn't do hand-to-hand combat at all. Those are the only bad stuff I can think of, since the film was great, and there wasn't a single dull moment in it. All the new tributes were interesting, especially Finnick, Johanna and Beetee. This film is great, and is a must-watch.