Movie review: Catching Fire

OH MY GOD. I guess those are the words that sum up the movie for me.

I've been meaning to type this review for a couple of days now but it took me seeing the movie twice and thinking about it for two more days to finally get to it. I still can't put my thoughts in order so the review is probably gonna be all over the place, sorry about that.

I should probably tell you first that I have read all three Hunger Games books a couple of years ago and of course I love them (how could you not?) so my expectations for this movie were pretty high and I'm pleased to say that it is totally better than I expected. Oh and there’s going to be a picture at the end of the review from a scene in the movie. If you haven’t watched the movie yet and don’t want spoilers don’t scroll pass the SPOILER ALERT message.

As a fan of books, I'm not so critical when it comes to movie adaptations because I understand that it is not easy to create something that pleases if not every, the majority of the book fans, simply because directors and screenwriters are not in our heads. I also believe that a big part of the adaptation has to do with how much of the world was described on the actual book and how much was open to imagination. But this movie OH MY GOD.

I have to start with Jennifer Lawrence's performance because it was just pure gold. She's an amazing actress and anyone that tells me that she's overrated I don't know what the heck you are watching. She's sincere, fresh, she is Katniss. I just can't imagine anyone else playing Katniss the way she does. She made me cry and laugh and her expressions made the whole movie x100 times better. And the last 10 seconds of the movie, watching her face go from pain and desperation to the I'm-going-to-fucking-kill-everyone face deserves a freaking Oscar I swear. The other performances were amazing too, everyone was really believable and on point with their characters. The stand outs in my opinion, besides Jennifer, are Elizabeth Banks and Jenna Malone. Jenna is an AMAZING Johanna, I was happily surprised by her.

The movie as such is awesome. The scenarios, Hawaii, the arena was just like I've pictured it in my mind, the way it tells the story of the rebellion, the districts, the capitol, the woods, every single thing. The message of the book, something that could have easily been lost in the movie, shines throughout it and watching that was awesome. 

I love how they fixed a lot of the things people did wrong in the first movie. For example, as a result of not having Madge (in my opinion the biggest fault of the first movie) Katniss had to see the streaming of the rebellion in the districts somewhere, and they came up with the train idea which I think was really clever. The only thing that I really missed in the movie was Haymitch’s story because it is, after all, what gives Katniss the idea of how to end with the arena but I guess they couldn't put everything there. 

The quotes from the book, OMG so many. I love them, I love when that happens. And all the little things, the pearl, the 'favorite color' conversation,  so similar to the book. A real gift for the book fans.

Oh I almost forgot, Liam, Josh and Sam are freaking hot!

I really don't know what else to say besides how grateful I am to Francis Lawrence and the people who wrote the script, to the actors and to Suzanne Collins. Also thank you to Lionsgate for giving the movie more budget so it could be THIS cool.

I would recommend this movie to everyone, I think that the message behind it is so important and the fact that a heroine like Katniss is a role model for young girls shows you that not everything is lost. I really think you should watch this movie if you haven't yet, like really. 

Best scene: Hands down the elevator scene. Jennifer’s face is just priceless.

SPOILER ALERT: 

God I love her!