Like its arrow-slinging protagonist Katniss Everdeen, "Catching Fire," last year's second chapter of "The Hunger Games" movie series, did more than just survive in a fierce, unforgiving field. The flick pulled off a Hollywood feat as rare a Hunger Games without a solo winner: The sequel far outshined the initial installment.
The first film based on the dystopian book trilogy about an annual competition pitting children from a dozen "districts" against one another in a televised fight to the death took aim at Reality TV, among other targets. But for all the action and drama, the 2012 box office hit largely missed the mark, falling flat and bloodless for considerable stretches.
"Catching Fire" lived up to its name as characters from the first film blazed to life, fueling a compelling story that ended with the oppressed nation of Panem on the verge of a revolution led by Katniss, a star for the ages. Now "Mockingjay — Part 1,” the first installment in the dual finale, arrives in theaters Friday, leaving us wondering which "Hunger Games" we're going to get.
The fate of "Mockingjay," on-screen and off, rests largely on the impressive shoulders of Katniss and her real-life alter ego, Jennifer Lawrence.
Like Katniss, Lawrence is eminently relatable in her civilian life (her eschewing of celebrity trappings and her Oscar night stumbles have endeared her to fans) and beloved for turning fierce when attacked (see Lawrence's strong rebuke to the those who posted hacked personal pictures of her and other stars). The actress is a symbol of Hollywood hope and celebrity sanity.
Katniss also is a powerful symbol to both the government forces that made her a star and the rebels who broke her out of the Hunger Games dome in "Catching Fire." But Katniss is far more than either side's Joan of Arc/martyr-in-waiting. As we saw from her flaming entrance in last year's chapter, she controls the fire.
The full flesh-and-blood realization of Katniss Everdeen is a tribute to the ability of Lawrence, at 24 a great, Oscar-winning actress who more than held her own against Robert DeNiro in "Silver Linings Playbook." In "Mockingjay," she's again surrounded by top-notch "Hunger Game" players, including Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who filmed most of his scenes for the “Mockingjay” movies before his death in February.
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As we saw with the initial "Hunger Games" entry, fine acting alone can't carry a film. Splitting the final chapter into two parts might follow the largely money-driven trend of milking lucrative book-inspired movie franchises ("Twilight," "Harry Potter," "The Hobbit”). But the gimmick doesn’t necessarily bode well for quality as we wait to see whether "Mockingjay — Part 1" leaves us hungering for or just plain hungry.
Jere Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multimedia NYCity News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter.
