Goodricke Week #4

 The Hunger Games: Ranked

    Yes, I know this is my second blog post ranking something, but this one is kinda different. I'm gonna talk about my favorite in the Hunger Games movies. I think that these movies are all so incredibly good and I've enjoyed watching them since I was a very little kid. I used to go to the movie theatre every year when a new movie would come out. I owned 2 Mockingjay pins and I would always put my hair in the signature Katniss Everdeen braid. By the way, I was team Gale (not that that really matters). This also might be a spoiler alert, but also the movies have been out for over 5 years, come on guys. 

First things first, I'm going to explain a little bit about the Hunger Games as a whole. These movies are set in a place called Panem. Panem is separated into 12 districts, each with its own purpose and responsibility to the Capitol (Where the President resides). In Panem, The Hunger Games is in place to both entertain and keep the districts in line. Why would they need to be kept in line? Well, 74 years before the first movie's Hunger Games, the citizens of Panem started a revolution to overthrow the Capitol. The Games are a reminder that even the strongest cannot amount to that of the power of the Capitol. One male and one female are selected from each district, totaling 24 tributes. They are sent off to train alongside each other until the actual games begin. 

My favorite movie in the Hunger Games quadrilogy is Catching Fire. This is one is my favorite for so many reasons. This one is just a complete 180 from the first movie in terms of the technology used in the games specifically. For those who need a refresher, Katniss had just come off of winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games with Peeta, and is looking forward to some quality time with her family and also her love interest, Gale. Every 25 years, the Capitol holds a special Hunger Games called the Quarter Quell. These games contain a brand-new specialized arena and lots of different twists to make the games a little trickier. In the previous quarter quell, the twist was that instead of two victors being selected into the Hunger Games, four people were selected. In this quarter quell, two victors are to be selected from the existing pool of victors from each district. In district 12, where Katniss is, she was the only female victor there. This meant that she would be going right back into the Hunger Games with Peeta yet again. In an attempt to save Peeta from dying in the Hunger Games, Katniss makes a deal with her mentor, Haymitch, stating that he would do anything he could to save Peeta and not her. Another twist with this quarter quell is that each portion of the arena is laid out like a clock. Each hour segment provides a danger to the tributes. For example, there is poisonous fog, blood rain, killer monkeys, a huge tsunami wave, etc. At the end of the movie, it's revealed that the plan was always to save Katniss. The citizens are planning another revolt against the Capitol, and they need Katniss to be the face of the movement. Over half of the tributes were in on it to save her. Peeta ended up being captured by the Capitol and used as a mutt to stop the new revolt. 

What makes this movie so interesting is all of these twists and turns. In the first movie, it was very bland. The idea of the Games was very realistic. It's hard to describe, but Catching Fire is just so much more interesting because of all of the conspiracies and everything that gets revealed to further the plot. I highly highly highly recommend this movie/series. 

The Hunger Games Catching Fire