Hunger Games sequel didn’t catch on fire

Having read the The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins and going to the midnight premiere of the first movie, I had high hopes for the second movie, Catching Fire. Like any fan who read the books way before a movie was even thought about being made, I expected to movie to be as close to the book as possible.

As I sat down and waited for the movie to start, I was nervous to see if they were able to fulfill my hopes, or crush the book I loved. I’m glad to say that the movie was better than expected.

Director Gary Ross did an amazing job with animations, graphics, and keeping as true as possible to the book. The story played out just as I had imagined it in my mind while reading it.

Jennifer Lawrence, who plays main character Katniss Everdeen, did another excellent job capturing Katniss’ spirit. Her feisty, stubborn attitude paralleled her character in the book wonderfully. Her co-actor Josh Hutcherson also did an equally fantastic job playing the love struck Peeta Mellark.

Each actor and actress fit the roles perfectly and there were no disappointments from the performance. However, one critique that personally bothered me having read the books multiple times was the enhanced romance between Gale and Katniss. It proposed a bigger love triangle then shown in the book.

In the trilogy, it is known that Gale is in love with Katniss, but they only kiss once and it isn’t the focus of the story. However in the movie they kiss multiple times and it throws fans off. It’s almost as if Ross was trying to make a “Team Edward or Team Jacob” for The Hunger Games.

Besides that minor change, I felt that the movie did an exceptional job at representing the The Hunger Games books. I give the movie five stars and recommend it to anyone.