Hunger Games: Catching Fire (NBA Jam shoud probably sue...)

The 2nd installment of the Hunger Games Series (I never read the books) finds our heroine Katniss and "Hero" Peeta back home in District 12. Void of fanfare and the rich, amazing life that was promised after winning the 74th Hunger Games. They aren't in love, or even really seeing each other in any way. Katniss still has something for Gale, the rugged woodsman/factory worker. She still hunts and enjoys the outdoors and apparently saving her family. President Snow (DONALD SUTHERLAND!) visits her at her home explaining that she needs to convince the other districts, and most importantly himself, that she is in love with Peeta. They live 25 yards away, but never speak (so much for life threatening events bringing people together, FUCKING SPEED.) They go on a promotional tour of the other districts to show they are happy and inspire hope and happiness. District 11 is stop #1 where Katniss is supposed to read a prepared statement that Peeta handles. They honor the families of the lost "Tributes", which includes Rhue, Katniss' friend and essentially little sister who dies during the first film. She talks lovingly about Rhue, and how sad she was that she couldn't save her. The speech causes an elderly man to raise three fingers in the air, which promptly causes guards to drag him to the captial steps and get shot in the head. Katniss is appalled and pretty much freaks out. Haymitch, her "mentor" decides to then tell her to follow the rules and not incite rioting. Slowly it becomes more and more apparent that an uprising is a possibility. They call for another Hunger Games for the 75th anniversary, but it's going to be special. Since President Snow wants Katniss dead and gone they drag back the other winners from the other districts from previous years to compete in a special quarterly event of death and awfulness. You meet the other contestants, who are now celebrities and members of the bougouise folk who live in the capital. You meet some of them, they train and get to know each other. The stakes are raised and it's a lot more interesting than the first Hunger Games you got to watch. I was a huge fan since I had no idea what to expect. It really becomes a full story with much more depth than the first film. It's much more than young love trying to stay alive. The addition of Philip Seymour Hoffman is an awesome addition as Gamemaster and the returning cast is still phenomenal. Bottom Line: 8.7 out of 10. If you haven't seen the first one, run out and buy it for $5, watch it, then go to the movie theatres and watch the new one. It's a very interesting story that has an excellent cast and crew with a lot of money behind them. I certainly am looking forward to the final act of this trilogy. P.S. Take a look at Francis Lawrence's directing credits and ask yourself how the fuck he got this job?