Film Review #13

I just returned home from watching The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and I'm pretty happy with the film. I have to preface my review by saying that I have read the books of the Hunger Games Trilogy. That being said, I can not comment on the clarity of the film's story, because I had a complete understanding it before the film even started. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic North America where each year 24 young adults, two from each of the twelve districts, compete in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games consists of those 24 tributes being placed in an artificial environment and are told to survive through various obstacles they may encounter. The tributes are expected to kill one another until there is only one victor.  Catching Fire is the second installment of the trilogy and in my opinion, serves as more of a connecting piece between the first and third installments rather than as a stand alone film.
As a result of the content, the film had a very poignant and somewhat fearful tone. The editors did a very swell job creating this mood within the film. Most of the footage had very cool colored tints, many of them being blue. One thing that I was not so crazy about was the lighting. Most of what takes place in Catching Fire takes place after the sun has gone down, so many of the scenes were dark. This would not have been a problem if it didn't prevent some of the action from being seen. There were a few scenes that were so dark, it felt as if there was no staged lighting at all and therefore I felt like I didn't get to see as much of what was happening as I would have liked. Overall I think the film was a success and I'm super excited to see Mockingjay, the final installment of the trilogy. I would totally recommend seeing this film.