Genre: Sci-fi
Premise: (from IMDB) Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.
About: This is the second film in The Hunger Games franchise, a set of films adapted from writer Suzanne Collins’ novels. The first film was a huge surprise hit, grossing over 400 million domestically, and turning its star, Jennifer Lawrence, into a household name who is now the most sought after actress in Hollywood. Catching Fire came out this weekend and grossed 170 million dollars domestically, a little more than the original film did on its opening weekend. The Hunger Games represents a huge shift in the business, with every production company and their mother trying to get their hands on the next big female-driven sci-fi YA novel franchise. As Hollywood is prone to do, the saturation of the market is already beginning to destroy it. Terrible films like The Host and the awful-looking Divergent are dampening audience enthusiasm for the trend. Despite this, The Hunger Games continues to thrive and until it’s over, studios will probably continue to develop these projects.
Writers: Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt (based on the novel by Suzanne Collins)
Details: 146 minutes long!
One of the things I find strange is that despite The Hunger Games now being one of the premiere franchises in Hollywood, and despite the full-on media blitz they’ve put together the last few weeks to make everyone is aware of the latest incarnation reaching theaters this weekend, nowhere can you find an interview with the screenwriter of the film.
That’s because The Hunger Games, and movies like it, represents one of the most thankless screenwriting jobs in Hollywood. Sure, you get to write one of the biggest movies of the year, but all the credit will go to the two people who sandwiched you in the process – the author of the original book, and the director who put the movie on the big screen.
To that end, that middle cog, the screenwriter who adapts these huge books, is allowed little to no creativity. His job amounts to that of a translator. Maybe that’s why Catching Fire feels so empty inside. Its two talented screenwriters, Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt, weren’t allowed to do anything but translate. And it’s left this movie without a soul.
A few months have passed since the last games. Katniss, our heroine and winner of the 74th Hunger Games, is now being asked to go on tour with her co-winner, Peeta, to use their celebrity to distract all the districts from the fact that they’re all hungry and miserable, which is a common theme throughout the franchise.
Now for those who don’t remember, there can only be one winner of each games. But Katniss and Peeta, buddies from the same district, bucked the system and “co-won” the Games, to the dismay of the country’s prickly President Snow. In an arrangement of backstory so complicated I couldn’t begin to explain it in one post, Katniss must pretend to the public that she loves Peeta, even though she secretly loves another guy back in her district. Peeta, on the other hand, is desperately in love with Katniss.
After going on tour, the big bad president decides that Katniss is becoming a symbol for rebellion and announces a “Survivor All-Stars” version of the Hunger Games, bringing all the former winners back to fight each other to the death. Katniss and Peeta are, once again, thrust into the games. And the prez is hoping that both of them will be killed once and for all. But when the normally distant Katniss starts making allies, everything about the president’s plan starts to fall apart.
There’s this saying in professional sports that you want to be either really good or really bad. Really good cause you can win it all. Or really bad so you can rack up high draft picks and turn your team’s fortunes around. What you don’t want to be is stuck in the middle, one of those teams that’s never going to threaten for a championship but is too good to ever get a high draft pack. You will be perpetually mediocre for the entirety of your existence. Catching Fire, I’m afraid, is a team stuck in the middle.
There simply wasn’t anything that stuck out with this film. The emotional beats were never high enough. The kills were never violent enough. The twists were never shocking enough. Everything was right down the middle.
That’s something that bothered me about the first one also, but the first one had an ace up its sleeve. It had a great concept. A bunch of children being forced to kill each other for the entertainment of others. This script doesn’t have that luxury. The competitors Katniss and Peeta play against are adults now, which makes this less unique.
And maybe they could’ve made that cool IF the personalities of these competitors were big and exciting enough. But they weren’t. In fact, Haymitch’s (Woody Harrelson) description of everyone was way more exciting than the competitors themselves. He goes on and on about a girl with fangs, for instance, yet we never see fang girl in the actual games! Or we’re told about this really dangerous brother and sister team – yet the two die before they can tie their shoes! Or we’re warned about this “really weird” husband and wife team. Except the only weird thing about them is that the woman talks to herself sometimes. The guy’s not weird at all.
That’s what’s beginning to bother me about this franchise. There are so many promises that aren’t being kept. I mean, The Hunger Games are supposed to be this violent battle to the death, but the death is by fog and bee’s nests and drowning. I understand that this is PG-13, but if you’re selling “brutal” and give us “cuddly deaths” instead, you can see why we might be upset.
Another thing that ticked me off was the script’s shift away from immediate storytelling to “franchise” storytelling (a.k.a. setting things up for the 3rd and 4th movies). The Hunger Games was a self-contained movie. Catching Fire is more about the beginnings of a revolution we’re not going to see for another 2 years. Cliffhangers are wonderful when you get to watch the next show a week later. It’s not so fun when entire birthdays are passing before you get to see the next episode.
Also, once you start setting things up for other movies, the most important aspect of storytelling – only including what’s relevant to the story – gets tossed aside and your narrative becomes bloated. Joss Whedon is a huge opponent of this approach for this very reason, which is why he said, “Let’s just make a great Avengers movie and let the sequels figure themselves out when we get there.” I agree with him. Just make each individual movie work. Don’t tell me, “Oh my god, I have to go save my sister!” And then cut to black.
Even if you strip all these problems away, Catching Fire still has issues. This love story thing has never made a lot of sense. She has to pretend she loves Peeta so the public will what? Root for the power of love? Have hope? I don’t even know. And it’s a huge plot point since they keep talking about it all the time, which only makes it more frustrating that it doesn’t make sense. Tack on to that how the third variable in the love triangle isn’t even around. How can you have a love triangle if one of the parties isn’t even there? And then, of course, there’s zero chemistry between Katniss and Peeta. Watching the two make out is like watching your best friend kiss his sister. Although admittedly, it’s not clear if this lack of chemistry is due to the writing or the actors.
I hate to generalize but the “YA” label is so appropriate here. “YA” stands for safe choices, a simplified story, and a lack of sophistication. That’s what Catching Fire is. And I get that there are statements being made in the story about society and our obsession with celebrity and how it detracts from the real problems. But deeper themes don’t resonate unless the core story itself works. And the core story here is just so darn safe and comfortable, it’s hard to see this as anything more than the fast food of sci-fi movies.
[ ] what the hell did I just see?
[x] wasn’t for me
[ ] worth the price of admission
[ ] impressive
[ ] genius
What I learned: I think YA novel adaptations will only continue to become a bigger part of Hollywood as the self-publishing revolution continues and more and more people are writing these stories. But as far as the sci-fi/dystopian young female protag novels? These are going to die with The Hunger Games. Move away from this trend and start a new one. It’s always better to be the new guy on the block over the desperate dude chasing a dying trend anyway.
