Catching Fire! - The Movie

How many of you went to see Catching Fire last night?! I went last night to the 10 p.m. showing with my sister who is an equal fan of the series, and a friend who had stopped reading mid-Catching Fire and I had to convince to come see the movie because she'd lost interest.

(If you have not read Catching Fire, or seen the movie, please note that this post has spoilers. If you want to know more about Catching Fire, see my spoiler-free book review here)

To give you an idea on how we felt about it, my sister and I spent the entire time covering our faces and whimpering because we knew what horrible thing was coming next (i.e., speech in District 11, Quarter Quell announcement, Cinna, Mags...). My friend sat through it all silently and occasionally curled up and whimpered also. At the end, my sister and I immediately made plans to go back on Saturday and see it again. My friend didn't say much until we got out of the theater and she exclaimed "I'm so impressed!" She went on to say that this movie was so much better than the first, she can't believe how good it was, and that she wants to come back with us on Saturday to see it again. WE. LOVED. IT.

I saw some tweets immediately after about it being good despite the changes. I say, who cares about the changes, it was amazing! They did leave some things out and change the way some things happen, most notably:

     There are no escapees hiding in the woods trying to get to the fabled District 13, so Katniss has no idea of District 13 until the very end.

     Gale gets whipped not for selling game but for attacking a Peacekeeper.

     Katniss doesnt get whipped in the face, just punched.

     There are a ton of scenes with President Snow and Plutarch Heavensbee that don't actually happen in the books, but for some reason I actually like them. Especially the ones with Snow and his granddaughter... good set up for the next two movies, especially.

There were many other little changes, and probably some big ones I didn't care enough about to remember. I think the changes made were good for the movie adaptation and I absolutely loved it. The action was so well done, so exciting to watch. All of the emotions that leave us so bereft in the books come to life and do it to you all over again in the movie. By the time we left, I was so emotionally drained.. I just wanted to curl up in my bed for a few days. I will be seeing it several more times over the next few weeks, you'd better believe it!

So, please, please, please tell me - have you gone to see this movie? If not, are you going some time soon? I need to discuss how amazing it was!

A.

Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

ISBN: 9780439023498

Source: Purchased

Series: The Hunger Games #2

Page Count: 391 pages

Find it on Goodreads

See all reviews in this series

     GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.
Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

     REVIEW:
I always thought I  liked Catching Fire better than The Hunger Games. Now I remember why! The Hunger Games was a shock to my system the first time I read it, the first (and only, in my opinion) of its kind. After the elation the reader feels when Peeta and Katniss make it out of the arena, you can only wonder what the author can do to to keep us interested (and pray she won't find a new way to break our hearts... which she does!).

Collins uses the emotional high we're still riding on to propel us through the aftermath of Katniss and Peeta's victory. For those of you living under a rock, I'll keep this entirely spoiler free, but there is 10000% more emotion in this book than the last, and thats saying a lot considering how high strung I was reading Hunger Games the first time.

I still do find the writing to be a little on the simple side, but with everything going on, I can't be mad about it. I'm glad I didn't have to decipher hidden meanings and philosophical standpoints, because all I cared about at this point was Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch... oh and Finnick <3.. etc.

I felt more and more of Katniss and Peeta's relationship that I seem to have missed (or turned a blind eye to) the last time. I love it, and even though I think it rightfully takes a back seat to the action, it was almost perfect. I say almost because I didn't like the fact that Katniss kinda loses a little of her identity for a short while in this book. She's always flip flopping between who she should be making all of her decisions for, Peeta, Gale, Peeta, Gale.. In book 1, the decisions Katniss made were for her family and herself, and when it was necessary and logical, Peeta. I didn't like that she couldn't decide who she loved while still staying true to herself. On the other hand, I suppose being in the area truly did break her and she was no longer the same person before she left, so I guess I can forgive that.

RATING: ★★★★1/2

Ah well, enough pondering the inner working of Katniss's mind. How many of you are going to see the movie this weekend? Any of you going today!? I am, with a few co-workers and my sister, and I'm beyond excited! I am obsessed with midnight showings, except they are releasing the movie earlier today and we are going to the 10:00 p.m. showing. I'm so pumped! I'll be posting a book-to-movie review also, probably tomorrow or Saturday. If any of you have done any posts in anticipation for the movie, leave me a link so I can come visit!

A.