The Hunger Games: Catching Fire -- December 2013

THE HO-HUM GAMES

In 2012 we had the first movie installment of The Hunger Games. This year we have installment #2: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. There's no doubt that these two films are a sensation: The first entry in the series had earned $408 million domestically by January 2013, and Catching Fire has already earned $371.7 million in the few weeks since its release. So these movies are popular. But are they worthwhile? I saw the first item over a year ago and thought it had its good points. The second item in the series, however, is a rather different story. About 30 minutes into the film, after the action had been set up, I said to myself, "Oh no. Are we going to have to sit through these Games again?" By the end of the movie I was feeling really antsy.

A brief plot summary might be in order here. The time is perhaps 100 or so years in the future. Seventy-five years ago there was a rebellion which led to a civil war and then a military takeover. Since then the US, renamed Panem, has been divided into 12 districts and the government replaced by a dystopian dictatorship called The Capitol. Each year there occurs a major event called the Hunger Games, for which two young persons (a girl and a boy), called tributes, are selected from each district. The 24 tributes will fight things out in the Games until only one is left alive. From the government's point of view the purpose of the Games is to strongly discourage rebellion against the system while entertaining the populace. The Games are televised and extremely popular with the people of Panem – and reminiscent of bread and circuses in the Roman Empire. In the first picture, teenage protagonists Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark from District 12 both survived and "won" the contest – an outcome which had never happened before. Supposedly The Capitol will take care of Katniss and Peeta for the rest of their lives. No one ever really "wins" the games, though. The evil President Snow announces that for the 75th anniversary of The Capitol there will be a "Quarter Quell" which will require Katniss and Peeta to return to battle again with the other 22 tributes.

Thus the action of the second picture in the series is established, and the bulk of Catching Fire deals, tediously in my estimation, with Katniss and Peeta fighting for their survival with the 22 others. Does the film have any redeeming values? Perhaps. In an article in The Christian Research Journal (to be found on equip.org, the website of Hank Hanegraaff, the Bible Answer Man), Christian writer and apologist Holly Ordway discusses the import of The Hunger Games books, written by novelist Suzanne Collins. In a very interesting and erudite presentation, Ordway makes the point that Collins's novels (and perhaps by extension the films) can be used as a vehicle for literary and Christian apologetics. Ordway notes that there is no Christian worldview present in the stories -- God is unmentioned and apparently unknown – but Katniss and Peeta and some of the other characters make ethical decisions. Since there is seemingly no grounding for ethical beliefs, where do these actions come from? In-depth discussions of this question with aficionados of the novels and the movies might be very useful and rewarding. Interestingly, however, Ordway does make the comment that "The plot of The Hunger Games centers on what is essentially a live-action video game."

The picture is satisfactorily acted: Jennifer Lawrence is a credible Katniss, and Stanley Tucci has a nice turn as an amusing television Games emcee, as does Philip Seymour Hoffman as a government stoolie. Donald Sutherland, however, isn't nefarious enough in his role as the evil President Snow.

Bottom Line: Other reviewers have pointed out that both Hunger Games movies are about personal sacrifice, as exemplified in John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." There is certainly merit to this observation. In addition, the film's conclusion has a nice twist. For me, though, the video game quality of most of the action overpowers. But since there is no accounting for tastes, you should judge for yourself. See Ordway's article in the Christian Research Journal on equip.org if at all possible.

Film Rating: PG-13

My Ratings: Catching Fire: 2 ¼ stars

                    The Hunger Games (first installment) 2 ¾ stars