Reviews for this film from our members:
- Marco Albanese @ Stanze di Cinema [Italian]
- Excerpt: Per dovere di critica (…e di botteghino), recensiamo questo secondo episodio della saga di Hunger Games. Ma ne avremmo volentieri fatto a meno. Perchè quando un film è fondamentalmente inutile, a che cosa può servire una recensione?
- Mario Alegre @ Primera Hora [Spanish]
- Dragan Antulov @ Draxblog VI [Croatian]
- José Arce @ LaButaca.net [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Secuela superior a su predecesora, en la que las lecturas críticas se multiplican en paralelo al espectáculo que ofrece. Buena demostración de que pueden lanzarse productos de calidad sin tratar a los adolescentes como sacos de hormonas sin cerebro.
- Edwin Arnaudin @ Ashvegas
- Excerpt: Fans of the first installment will likely perceive an amplified adventure, but for those unimpressed by “The Hunger Games” director Gary Ross’ efforts, the initial film proves to have dug the series such a deep hole that these actors playing these characters in this PG-13 setting only holds so much appeal.
- Jason Bailey @ Flavorwire
- Excerpt: It is a brisk, exciting, well-acted entertainment, and those elements, in addition to the built-in audience of Collins’ voracious readers, are the most logical explanation for the franchise’s massive popularity. But in viewing the two films back-to-back this week, another theory seems worth mentioning as well: the series’ political subtext, which is present and potent, yet flexible enough to latch on to the ideology of your choice.
- Steve Biodrowski @ Cinefantastique Online
- Tim Brayton @ Antagony & Ecstasy
- Excerpt: Highly likely to be the best of all four Hunger Games pictures.
- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: A teenage girl as a hero in-the-making animated by her feisty independent spirit, survival skills, selflessness, and courage.
- Kevin Carr @ 7M Pictures
- Excerpt: While “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” is a fine film with plenty of action and a lot more to say than what we’ve seen recently in the hopeful young adult literature adaptations, the bookends to it keep it from being a great movie.
- Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: has greater emotional weight, higher consequences for its characters, its downtrodden masses supporting a Capital whose denizens indulge in hedonism a futuristic reflection of today’s great wealth divide in the United States.
- Tony Dayoub @ Cinema Viewfinder
- Excerpt: …a noticeable upgrade from the franchise’s previous movie in nearly every way.
- Carlos del Río @ El rincón de Carlos del Río [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Mejor dirigida que la primera, pero no llega a ser una buena película.
- Jim Dixon @ Examiner.com
- Excerpt: The big differences this time around are a markedly less sentimental approach, and a generally edgier and tougher feel. These movies speak to their time better than some more artistically ambitious films.
- Billy Donnelly @ This Is Infamous
- Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
- Excerpt: Catching Fire is not only a superior sequel in terms of form but also in how it helps us reconcile the shortcomings of its predecessor.
- [New – 4/3/14] | Dustin Freeley @ MoviesAboutGladiators.com
- Excerpt: This second installment is mostly a bridge to the unnecessary two-part finale.
- Takis Gkaris @ www.moviesltd.gr [Greek]
- Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
- Excerpt: Exciting and engaging escapist entertainment, a spectacular sequel that should satisfy fans of the book as well as the 2012 blockbuster.
- Vadym Grygoriev @ kinoblog.com [Ukrainian]
- Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: Catching Fire does a brilliant job of taking a beloved work and turning it into a cinematic event. In scene after scene, director Francis Lawrence invigorates the words of Suzanne Collins’ novel into a fully realized picture that exploits the possibilities of the visual medium.
- Blake Howard @ Graffiti With Punctuation
- Excerpt: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire achieves what every sequel should strive for – a film that surpasses its predecessor in every way.
- MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: A devastating indictment of pop culture as propaganda — about its power and the limits of its powers — and an upending of the typical teen-girl romance movie.
- Daniel Kelly @ eFilmCritic
- Excerpt: “Catching Fire” gets off to a slow and moody start, the air filled with ice, rain and stinging despondency.
- Jeremy Kibler @ The Artful Critic
- Excerpt: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is an enthralling, fleetly paced, well-oiled machine that delivers plenty and then promises even bigger things to come.
- Oktay Ege Kozak @ Oregon Herald
- Excerpt: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is quite an improvement over the tepid and weak first entry in the proposed trilogy. Even though the best thing I could say about the first Hunger Games was “At least it wasn’t as horrid as Twilight”, I could still fully understand the challenges that came with adapting such a violent and depressing subject matter to tween PG-13 standards.
- Benjamin Kramer @ The Voracious Filmgoer
- Kristin Dreyer Kramer @ NightsAndWeekends.com
- Glenn Lovell @ CinemaDope.com
- Excerpt: … a sequel that, for once, doesn’t coddle its audience … Lawrence’s quick-draw archer is, if anything, more intense and single-minded this time around, an even stronger role model.
- Wesley Lovell @ Cinema Sight
- Excerpt: The second film in the incredibly successful Hunger Games franchise takes on a new, untested director and comes out as a fine middle chapter of what’s shaping up to be one of the great big screen adaptations.
- Piers Marchant @ Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- Brent McKnight @ Giant Freakin’ Robot
- Excerpt: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a seditious sequel that tops the original in every way.
- Ryan McNeil @ The Matinee
- Excerpt: One year later, the world has grown…and the game has changed.
- Ross Miller @ Thoughts On Film
- Excerpt: Perhaps best of all it provides for a satisfying individual chapter in the franchise as much as it leaves you wanting to see more.
- Pat Mullen @ Cinemablographer
- Frank Ochieng @ SFcrowsnest
- Excerpt: ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ does what a formidable sequel should to do in concept…capitalize on the enormous success of its predecessor and leave the audience wanting more in the second serving…jubilant, spellbinding and tactical.
- R. Kurt Osenlund @ The House Next Door
- Jason Pirodsky @ Expats.cz
- Excerpt: A significant uptick over the first Hunger Games in terms of pacing and filmmaking style – though not necessarily story – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire represents a more-than-solid entry in the post-apocalyptic young adult franchise based on the bestselling novels by Suzanne Collins.
- Jamie S. Rich @ DVD Talk
- Excerpt: Catching Fire is an overall more confident effort than the original Hunger Games film. With its feet firmly planted, the series can now go about its business without feeling the need to establish everything.
- Jerry Roberts @ Armchair Cinema
- Excerpt: The odds are in your favor if you show up an hour late!
- Diego Salgado @ Cine para Leer [Spanish]
- Norm Schrager @ Meet In the Lobby
- Excerpt: … the action has smarts and speed. And the film series has some newfound promise.
- Amir Siregar @ Amir at the Movies [Indonesian]
- Frank Swietek @ One Guys Opinion
- Excerpt: Readers of the book should be more than satisfied, and non-devotees will find this a smoother, more affecting ride than its predecessor as well.
- Phil Villarreal @ COED.com
- Excerpt: The movie isn’t awful, is sure to please no-standard fanatics and won’t bore haters like myself.
