That he is a Hemsworth is no one's fault, I guess, but maybe Peeta should have been allowed to say some of the cute stuff he says in the books. Gale, on the other hand, is 6'4 and literally a Hemsworth. In this iteration, Katniss and Peeta have little to no chemistry, and Peeta only speaks when it is necessary to move the plot forward. She can't help but slowly fall in love with Peeta, who is so charming and funny and relentlessly Good. In the paper version, the reader, and by extension Katniss herself, feels truly torn between Gale and Peeta. Here's the thing: Katniss is supposed to be conflicted, not indifferent about Peeta. I was disappointed by Lawrence's apparent disregard for the relationship between Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence, no relation) and Peeta (the incomparable Josh Hutcherson).
Of course, with so much plot, so much to set up, one can hardly blame Catching Fire for falling short in the emotional department-as is, it clocks in at 2 hours and 26 minutes-but I did find myself wanting some steamier Peeta/Katniss action. Moreover, it is impressive that even with so many new people and so many moving parts, the central thread of Rebellion shines through.
The new additions to the cast, most notably Philip Seymor Hoffman's Plutarch Heavensbee and Sam Claflin's Finnick O'Dair, are excellent, and the dialogue is much less wooden than, forgive me, the dialogue in the books sometimes is. Lawrence, along with screenwriters Michael Hardt and Suzanne Collins herself, manages to weave in all of the necessary set up to the upcoming war against The Capitol without it feeling tedious or heavy-handed. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that this installment of the hit franchise, directed by industry rookie Francis Lawrence, was maybe even more engaging than its predecessor. The Hunger Games reads like a screenplay-Catching Fire is a meandery epic full of worldbuilding and exposition for a war that won't even begin until Mockingjay. Catching Fire is my favorite book of the trilogy, but cinematically it makes absolutely no sense. I must say, I was worried about this one.
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