There is one thing I can give The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) credit for: it did not entirely repeat the formula from The Hunger Games (2012).  Actually, there are a lot of similarities in terms of the structure.  The eponymous contest is announced, the tributes are gathered, and they all fight to the death in an arena that mimics a natural environment.  There are many other aspects of Catching Fire’s plot that are mysterious to me, which I blame on bad writing.  What this practicing Catholic does recognize is the through thread of the evils of autocratic governments and their attempt to replace God.  I am glad of the message, but, and please forgive me, I find much of the rest tedious.

For Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), tediousness is trying to get back to normal life at the beginning of Catching Fire.  We pick up with her back in her home area in this despotic, yet vague, state, which is the coal mining land known as District 12.  Because she had to feign a romance with her fellow winner, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), she is having trouble getting her real beau, Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), to trust her again as they hunt.  It is not the only adjustment the bonafide victor must make.  As champions, Katniss and Peeta are called upon to tour the other districts in order to deliver the government line on the current state of affairs.  Because the supposed budding love between the two teenagers had been a hit with capital audiences, they are expected to continue the charade.  This command comes from none other than President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland), who warns Katniss that she must make him believe that her and Peeta are a couple or her entire family and everyone else she cares about will be killed.  The act starts roughly, and it has Katniss wanting to run away with Gale.  Instead, citing growing unrest amongst his fellow miners, he says that his place is in District 12.  As such, they get on the train to begin the tour, their coach and mentor, the often drunk Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), coming with them.  Their first stop is District 11, where Rue (Amandla Stenberg, archival footage) comes from, a tribute that aided Katniss in the prior games.  Neither Katniss or Peeta are thrilled by their duty, and they take the opportunity to speak out against the cruelty of the system.  Doing so garners sympathy from the crowd in the form of the three-finger salute of the Mocking Jay that she gave in the last tournament, which has become a symbol of resistance.  The person who does it is immediately executed.  Realizing the danger the outburst has put Katniss and Peeta in, they decide to announce that they are getting married, hoping that will please President Snow.  Thus, upon arriving in the capital, they are given an engagement party at the presidential palace.  It is there that Katniss meets Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the new producer of the games.  Their exchange is rather cold, but there is a sense that he knows more than what is apparent.  Following the party, Katniss and Peeta return to District 12, but not long thereafter, they are invaded by capital soldiers.  The troops have come to quell the unrest that has been erupting since Katniss and Peeta’s victories, and the armed men so in a brutal fashion.  Gale is caught in the round up, having tackled an officer beating an unarmed woman.  He is then flogged in public before Katniss intervenes.  That same officer is about to shoot her when Haymitch steps in front and reminds the man with the gun of her status.  The incident is recorded and shown to President Snow, who feels he must make an example of her.  His initial solution is to simply kill Katniss, but Plutarch argues that would make her a martyr.  As a Catholic, I feel Hollywood does not know the true meaning of what it means to be a martyr, but I digress.  Instead, Plutarch suggests that they paint Katniss in a way that makes her look like a stooge of the government, and thus a betrayer.  President Snow is amenable to this idea, but now begins to see dissent growing amongst other past victors.  As such, they come up with the third Quarter Quell, which sounds nice since it is the 75^th anniversary of the establishment of their precious government.  What this means for the victors is that they are going to choose two past winners from each district to compete this year.  Unsurprisingly, Katniss and Peeta are chosen.  Hence, it is back to training for another death match.  This time, though, few of the victors are pleased with being there, none of them wanting to die.  They flout President Snow, which forces him to order an even deadlier arena than previous years.  It is a jungle terrain, and the weapons stash is in the middle of a lake with paths like spokes in a wheel leading to it.  Because they want to portray Katniss as a killer, they rile her up before placing her inside by beating her clothing designer and confidant, Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), and dragging away his body.  Once inside, she furiously sprints to the cache and immediately obtains her trademark bow-and-arrows.  Tangentially, it is remarkable how her quiver magically refills with projectiles.  Also, larger alliances are formed from the beginning, none of which is terribly important outside of helping her stay alive.  This is also kind of the point.  Eventually, the tech savvy Beetee Latier (Jeffrey Wright) figures out how to dispatch the remaining unfriendly forces by harnessing the regular lightning.  The plan goes to pot, as they always do, but Katniss uses the electricity to fire an arrow at the arena’s dome, destroying it.  She is knocked out in doing so, but rescued by a flying vessel.  Once she comes to, it is revealed that Haymitch, Plutarch, and many of the other victors are all part of a new rebellion.

Katniss’ reaction to his rebellion at the end of Catching Fire is a negative one because Peeta and another comrade have been captured by the capital.  Such is her anger that she has to be drugged.  When she awakens, she is greeted by Gale.  This conclusion is part of the reason why I find these films difficult to follow.  Who is it that she is truly giving her heart to: Gale or Peeta?  The Church is pretty clear that one should be discerning about who one loves, to a certain extent.  God calls us to love everyone, but Catholicism also acknowledges that there are different kinds of love.  It is what some Christian thinkers, namely C.S. Lewis, refers to as the four loves.  They are: storge, or affection; philia, which is arguably the most common form; eros, or erotic love; and agape, the least common, which is a higher form, being sacrificial and divine.  At times, one can see this in the interactions Katniss has with different people.  Outside of people like President Snow, or anyone trying to kill her, the baseline storge is present most of the time.  She develops a feeling of philia with people like Cinna, Haymitch, and even their handler, Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), who I do not understand her presence in these movies even after seeing two of them.  Further, she is willing to show that sacrificial agape love not just for Peeta, but others to whom she becomes attached.  I do not know what to say about eros because she vacillates so much between Gale and Peeta.  The story does nothing to help this, either, as of the two men have no discernible character flaw.  Perhaps it will be sorted out in the next?  Sigh.  At any rate, we move between these states throughout our lives because this is how God made us.  It is also a moot discussion given the film’s content, but God can speak in such moments.

At this moment, I am not sure what else there is to say about Catching Fire.  The rebellion is the subtle difference I alluded to in the introduction.  Otherwise, this is just as skippable as the rest.