Starting out this review, I would like to point out that I have read the books. This is based only on what is seen in the movie. For those unfamiliar with the franchise, “Catching Fire” is a movie based on the book by Suzanne Collins and sequel to the “Hunger Games.” Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Malark (Josh Hutcherson) are shoved back into the chaos of the Hunger Games when President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland) announces that past tributes will be drawn to participate in the 75^th Hunger Games Quarter Quell.

The pace set at the beginning of the movie is slow; showing how Katniss and Peeta are living life as Victors after the 74^th Hunger Games games, then becomes fast paced at a shocking rate as they prepare for the next Games. The change of how fast the plot was moving along kept me at the edge of my seat.

The acting by Elizabeth Banks, who plays Effie Trinket, was one of the best performances in a long while. The emotion she was able to convey to the audience throughout the film was unparalleled. That being said, Lawrence lives up to the first movie, showing the fear and anxiety that comes with participating in the Hunger Games.

This sequel, unlike many others, continues the success of the first movie, and I will be eagerly waiting to what happens in the last two movies. This movie earned 5 out of 5 talon.