The second installment of The Hunger Games , Catching Fire, was like a good home cooked meal; it lasted a while and made me feel content. However at some points it lacked a few small details, maybe just a pinch of salt. Not that your meals lack anything, Mom, so don’t worry!

In the aftermath of the 74^th annual Hunger Games, things have changed. District 12 is changing and people in other Districts are getting heated. There are whispers of a rebellion. All because of one act of defiance, a hope bringing act of defiance. To settle things down, the 75^th Hunger Games is going to bring in all the old victors and have them be tributes, which means Katniss will have to fight in the terrible Hunger Games yet again. Jennifer Lawrence, (the girl who sets a fire in my heart,) played Katniss Everdeen wonderfully again. She brings to life the personality of a girl who had to kill or be killed, and love falsely in order to live, who only wants to protect her family and live a life without having to be afraid.

The film stuck very closely to the book. It wasn’t spot on, and there were a few things or ideas that were missed, hence the pinch of salt missing. The scene from the book where Katniss meets the two runaways from another District who are off to District 13, which allegedly exists, creates the mysterious question and theme in the book that didn’t seem to be as prevalent in the movie.  Is there still a District 13 that was once decimated by the Capital? Due to the importance of this question, we should know aty the end of the movie if there is a District 13, but the film makes no reference to the answer.

Salt is important to having a good meal, but the meal can be enjoyed without it.  If you have not read the book, then it is a a good ending. For a Clarion editor who has a honed mind in looking for the weaknesses and strengths in movies, it was a decent ending. I also missed the detail of Katniss dancing with the Head Gamemaker and not seeing his watch, which was a little foreshadowing of the clock in the arena. That doesn’t seem to be nitpicking, because it wouldn’t have been hard to put in and was a slight foreshadowing of what happens at the end. This is all noticed if you have read the books.

During the book I had a difficult time visualizing the arena and certain parts of Tour and such. This movie helped me to see what the book meant. They set up the clock in the arena very well and the way the different “times” or challenges were portrayed were done quite nicely. It was a marvelous idea to have each of the Tributes start on a different time of the clock. The clock is ideal because it has 12 hours and 12 Tributes.

The characters were also played very nicely, especially Johanna Mason played by Jena Malone. She had the right amount of anger, sarcasm, and hatred for the Capital, and she comes close to the description in the book. The amount of emotion she puts into the film is felt due to the role of the character, someone who has lost it all because of the Capital, and can do nothing on her own against it. So she just simmers with anger and voices it when given the chance.

Overall I would give this movie a 9 out of 10, because of relatively key details from the book missing, but the way the movie is set up definitely helps out and makes it a great film.

I have to go.  Mom has an apple pie on! (Or to continue the metaphor, Thor 2.)