REGARDING CATCHING FIRE

The second film instalment in the massively popular Hunger Games franchise hits our screens this winter, and with the success of the first film always being brought up in regards to its sequel, it has a lot of pressure to deliver. The second book in the original series of books is my favourite out of the three. The plot, and the characters are given so much more depth, in the first book, there are characters whom the reader is impartial to, however once the second book is over you either absolutely adore or absolutely loathe every character. There are some surprising twists in store for those moviegoers who have not read the books, and I am here to give my opinions on my hopes for the sequel.

Catching Fire sees Katniss as a much more mature girl. Her thrust into stardom in the story means she
has to grow up and be responsible for herself. I have no fears about Jennifer Lawrence's performance in  any of the films. She has shown that she is more than capable to take on the role of such an iconic heroine in YA literature through her stellar performance in the first film, and also more of her films such as Silver Linings Playbook and X Men: First Class. In the second film her acting is going to have to improve to portray the wide range of emotions in which her character endures. Katniss becomes twice as astonishing in the second film, reunited with her family and district, the potential emotion that this film has the power to throw at the audience is large.

I have a real problem with the character of Peeta Mellark. Both in the books and film he is completely flawed, reflected in the wrong casting and amateur performance given by Josh Hutcherson. Whether it is the actors fault of the director's vision of creating Peeta as some sort of a hollow shell of a human in the film to reflect the effects of the Capitol's brainwashing and his poverty, I don't know, but I just cannot get to grips with the character. Acting alongside the brilliant Lawrence, Hutcherson's performance seems pantomime and false. Hopefully the second film will see his character actually develop, as I hope I don't have to sit through two hours of as emotionless, boring acting on Hutcherson's part ever again.

This is more for the readers of the books, as people who have only seen the first film will not relate, however the casting of Finnick and Johanna irked me at first, but now I am happy. As always with adaptations, everybody views characters differently. The casting of Finnick is pretty much the exact opposite of what I read him as, but now I can see the look the casting director's were going for and appreciate that. Johanna was pretty much the same.
I have seen neither Sam Claflin or Jena Malone act in a film to date, and can only hope that their performances will be as brilliant as possible, with the characters proving vital to the overall plot.

Francis Lawrence has shown his ability to direct an action movie with I Am Legend, therefore his directorial skills are not a thing that worries me. I am expecting average cinematography and CGI from this second film, as I received it in the first film, and hoping for a drive in more emotional performances from the actors. The first film was thoroughly let down by poor performances by many members of the cast and I feel that perhaps Gary Ross was not fully invested in the franchise, hence his abandonment of the project, and Lawrence has been left with a whole tonne of pressure and only the shambles of the first film to work with.

Time can only tell with films like this, and although I fully trust the performance of Jennifer Lawrence to outshine anything else, I may just be surprised and find myself invested completely in what perhaps is the most anticipated film of the year.
For those who have not seen the trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, it can be found here.