FUN FACTS: Catching fire had almost double the budget of the hunger games. Sam Clafin (Finnick) Broke his finger during filming

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” was released November 22^nd to an eager audience patiently awaiting the premiere of the sequel to the “The Hunger Games” that was released a mere 20 months earlier. The fans of the Suzanne Collins novels were not disappointed by director Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of the second novel in the “The Hunger Games trilogy,” “Catching Fire.”

The story of the trilogy centers around a girl named Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) who lives in a dystopian future where “the Capital” forces young children to fight to the death for their amusement and to keep the “Districts” who serve them under control. Katniss is selected to compete along side a baker’s son named Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson).  After leaving the first games alive the pair is forced into a deadly second round of battle. The second “Hunger Games” begins with Katniss and Peeta struggling to get through the victory tour where they must face the families of the people they watched die.

The novels that these films are based on are very cinematic in themselves and provide the director and actors with a very strong base of materials on which to work. Although the books were very good and a quick read if you have not already read them, they do have a downward trend with “The Hunger Games” being the strongest book, “Catching Fire” being almost as good and “Mockingjay” the final book being the least interesting.

The movies appear to be going in the opposite direction. “Hunger Games” was a strong film but had major flaws such as shoddy camera work and occasional poor directing. “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” takes the franchise to a whole new level with the directing, acting, make up and scenery. The items and techniques used were all spot on and made a film that exceeded all expectations.

Every movie has some small problems and they are often so minor the people seldom notice them, however in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” the tiny errors added up fast, from things like the number of arrows in Katnisss quiver changing every single shot to glasses missing lenses during many scenes and old men who apparently have little to no blood running through their veins. Though these errors are small there are so many that it a times takes away from the film.

Overall, the movie was entertaining from start to finish.  It was action packed and the battles were choreographed well.  The characters are believable and interesting.  The scenery and action is very intense and keeps moving quickly.  It is a movie that is worth seeing.