OldBoy

Please continue pre-release discussion here.

Movie:
"The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" (Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jack Quaid, Taylor St. Clair, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks)

Release Date:
11/22/2013

Rating:
PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, some frightening images, thematic elements, a suggestive situation and language throughout.)

Running Time:
146min. (2h. 26m.)

Budget:
$140 million (estimated)

IMDb Synopsis:


IMDb Info and Rating:
7.4 (5,797 votes as of 11/18/13)

Rotten Tomatoes:
Fresh:31 Rotten:01 (97% as of 11/18/13)

Metacritic:
76 metascore ('Generally favorable reviews' as of 11/18/13)

Trailer:
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Poster Art:

OldBoy

bump for release.

Tarantino

Saw it tonight and I was bored. Really bored. I didn't like the first one, but went to this with some friends and I just don't get why people like these movies.

I'll give it one thing, the terrible shaky cam from the first one is absent. The director handles the material more maturely, but the action is still pretty boring and the games in general just aren't as exciting as they were last time around.

Jena Malone and PSH stood out as my favorites in the film, the rest of the cast was...blah.

Goldberg74

I am the other side of the coin, I loved it. My wife and I went to the 10:15pm show last night. It was packed. The audience was very courteous and was really into it.

They hit all the high points of the book for me and moved things along rather well. There were some pretty tense moments which had the audience screaming, gasping and cheering.

I still don't care for Kravits as Cinna, but the others were well cast. Loved seeing Jena Malone, PSH, and Jeffery Wright.

Can't wait to take my teenagers to see it (as I will gladly see it again).

It's gonna be a long wait for the Mockingjay films.

I give it an A!

RocShemp

Holy shit! Tarantino's back! How did I miss this? Welcome back, buddy!

TomOpus

Ummm he's been back.

Interesting to see two polar opposite reviews. I wasn't real keen on seeing this (first one was just okay) so maybe I'll hold off.

RichC2

Grossed $25.25m last night.

Tarantino

I'm here, but my time is limited. I only really visit the movie section here now.

DaveyJoe

It's so sad that we have to point this out as a highlight these days.

Yavin

Caught a premiere screening with some of the cast in attendance. I thought it was excellent, with more depth than the first film (which I rewatched the day before seeing this one and found it much more simplistic than I remembered it to be). The ending left me with a very Empire Strikes Back or Matrix Reloaded vibe.

Here's my review.

Dr. DVD

Saw it last night in IMAX. I have to say, I thought it worked better as a movie than the first one. The production values were much higher this time around, and the casting/acting was the best they probably could have gotten. FWIW, I didn't mind Kravitz and never found him distracting in either movie. Jena Malone definitely stole the show with her character. A shame she isn't a bigger star.
I was pretty dang amazed at how much IMAX footage was in this movie. Looks like they shot over half of it in the format, including some close-up scenes that maybe shouldn't have been. Overall, it worked, especially for the sweeping land shots and sunsets.

Loved the scene with Haymitch, Peeta, Katniss, and Johanna in the elevator. The look on Lawrence's face while Johanna was doing her little show was priceless.

Dr. DVD

Personally, I just don't get why some people go see movies they don't want to see just because friends want to go. If you didn't like the movie, that's fine, because it's your opinion. However, I never see the harm in saving a few bucks and just saying "guys , I'll sit this one out" if it's something I know for certain I will not enjoy.

I've noticed a trend in the reviews. For the most part, the ones who disliked the first one also dislike this one, and the ones who liked the first, like this one as well. There does seem to be a consensus that the action scenes are better. I think Francis Lawrence was a step in the right direction.

Tarantino

I am back in the Bay Area for a week and wanted to hang out with some friends I haven't seen in a bit. Add in the fact that I had seen some good reviews and $25 for my wife and I to join them didn't seem like a big deal. I didn't go in hoping that I would dislike it, and I'm down to give anything a chance.

I think people are afraid to give this negative reviews or are very connected to the source material.

outcastja

I enjoyed this one better than the first one. I also recommend watching this on a legit IMAX screen. The whole hunger games was shot in IMAX, so the framing didn't go back and forth like in The Dark Knight and Rises.

TomOpus

The whole thing? I thought I read where 50 mins was IMAX... or maybe I was thinking of another movie.

Tarantino

The games only listed about that long, so that makes sense. A ton of exposition in this one.

RichC2

Or a lot of people just enjoyed it.

That's sometimes a mystery to me, like the fan base of Boondock Saints, movie was boring as shit but somehow achieved cult status.

superdeluxe

Or you can look at countless other reviews online most of them stating it is far superior to the first movie.

TomOpus

I like to see what the regular people have to say.

superdeluxe

Well then look at the people in this thread, where the far majority so far have said it was better than the first

DaveyJoe

We aren't the regular people.

nickdawgy

My wife saw this along with the first one (again) and said it was great.

Solid Snake

I won't read the books cuz I got more interesting books to read but... The whole thematic thing is mediocre for these films. Too simple and cliche.

Once it hit the arena it got interesting. It is better than the first but I don't see the great in this thing. PSH was cool. Is it hard to make him look bad in a film, guy always seems to be good in everything. Lawrence was mediocre in this. The script is so boring for her to act to. The trailer to American Hustle was better than this.

It's just very eh. The tributes were neat though. Underused but visually interesting. Some were stupid in concept.

Patman

I thought it was okay, I wasn't as drawn into it as I was the first film. My audience groaned when the end credits came up. Heh.

It's a decent followup, a little long (at almost 2.5 hours), while I felt some of the characterizations too abrupt to invest in (not including Katniss), and left me feeling like "The Matrix Reloaded" in some ways, but definitely sets the table for the 3rd film in the franchise.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.

Dr. DVD

It ended exactly how the book did, and I was hoping it wouldn't. I really was hoping they would