Sequels Are Never As Good

            It is never easy to create a sequel to well-known and famous shows. This is true for the recently released Catching Fire movie of the Hunger Games Franchise. A fact supporting this claim is that even with the more than 50% increase in the movie's budget, the gross it gained in the first opening week was almost equal to the gross the first movie had in its opening week. Personally, the show had less impact than its predecessor, though its ending cliffhanger made me want to watch its sequel unlike the bore-some ending of the Hunger Games that didn't even hint that there will be a sequel to it.

            Focusing on the movie itself, it had quite a lot of unexciting moments that would make people want to bring a remote to the theater so that they could fast forward the show. The fact that the actual battle in the show only took up a quarter of the whole movie is also a reason for this bad review.

            The movie is set in a dystopian society. There are no supernatural phenomenons or creatures but it does have incredibly advanced technology and physics-defying moments which puts it in the science fiction genre. The movie shows how the society would be like in a dictatorship world. In the story, wars had finally ended which would have been great if freedom wasn't sacrificed for it. As in the games, the strong lives and the weak dies. This is though, the very nature of the world. Another portrayal of the present society of the real world in the movie is the wedding distraction. The people focused on every little detail about the couple of district twelve so that they could forget the real problems that they are facing.

            Corruption and power is also a factor of the show. President Snow used the advanced technology mainly for entertainment, to hold his position, and for putting fear in the hearts of the people he governs. This is a failure in the use of technology and media. Having advanced technology means having prosperity. Using them for only personal gain is such a waste. Even in real life, people with power makes sure progress won't happen so that their happy, pathetic lives won't change.

            That being said, the movie is overall fun to watch, especially for the ending. Some would say it was better than the previous movie but the numbers are what truly matters in the end.

Arthur David Dela Merced

2013-70005