Have you seen it? Have you heard?
If not you are about to. Now. And later. And for a long time after.
The Hunger Games are/is back, you can watch the first trailer for Catching Fire below:
Now all cards on the table, I am a fan of the books and a fan of the first film. Neither would likely crack my top ten in either medium but I gained enjoyment out of reading and watching The Hunger Games.
So does this trailer fill me with joy and anticipation? No.
This does not mean I think the film will be awful. O.k so I think it is the weakest of three books, that is not a widely held opinion, but I do hold it. Also, unless you are one of the few significant fans of Constantine, I Am Legend or Water For Elephants, you won't be jumping for joy at the choice of director in Francis Lawrence. He adapted all three films from highly regarded source material and were you to canvas opinion on all them, the summary would likely come out as 'underwhelming at best'.
This is merely speculation though. You can not possibly judge the finished project until it is released. I still want it to be good. I do.
This trailer though? It leaves me wanting more and yet doesn't at the same time.
Obviously the point of a trailer is to get you wanting more. To stoke your intrigue, to tease the possibilities of what is to come, to tantalise your eyebuds with the promise of a rich visual feast you can hardly wait to devour. Hmmm. Maybe I should go eat something.
The point is, this trailer fails to make this happen for me. Naturally there is only so much you can show in what is clearly a teaser trailer and it is not as if they don't already have a devoted fan base locked in for opening night, but when you are kicking off a marketing campaign for something this big which will garner such a high level of coverage, well you want to start with a gasp, not a yawn.
What does it show? The bad guys who were plotting before? Still plotting. The people who were oppressed, dirty and hungry before? Still oppressed, still dirty, definitely still hungry. That unkempt and surly mentor? Still unkempt, still surly. And how about that girl who was a national figure of controversy and a symbol of a slightly muted revolution despite being just a teenage girl torn between the affections of two young men? Well you get my point.
The hunger part is all accounted for, where are the games? You don't have to give away plot, you don't have to reveal character details, just the hint of some kind of inventive action would be enough. Make me believe in seeing this film I will see something I have never seen before. Something I can only get from a Hunger Games film.
Take the action crescendo. The dramatic peak of the trailer. Katniss standing in front of a law enforcer with a gun.
Wow. There should be a laceration warning that comes with this trailer because viewers will be wanting to cut that tension with a knife.
Please don't insult my intelligence and tell me that is a moment I should looking forward to watching. That I should be excited for. My 2 year old nephew could tell you how that will turn out. And I don't even have a 2 year old nephew. I don't have a nephew at all.
Watch this clip. It is from October last year, before any trailers, posters or even plot descriptions were known for the new Star Trek film. With a salivating fan base in waiting, director J.J Abrams went on Conan in the U.S and played a 3 frame clip. 3 frames. It lasted like a milisecond. Nothing. Yet it was more exciting than any moments from The Hunger Games trailer.
Now clearly Abrams set that up as a joke but the lone image he shared promises so much through so little. I know Catching Fire can offer something similarly exciting, if it is even half as faithful an adaptation as the previous instalment then their is wonderment practically guaranteed.
I know plenty of you are just excited to see the characters on screen once more, to hear them talk, to really believe that the film is on its way. I just wish it didn't feel so creatively damp when I just want something to make my imagination, well, catch fire.
That terrible pun was intentional.
Obviously.
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