The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Directed by: Francis Lawrence Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth Rating: Not Yet Rated Release Date: November 22, 2013
Trailer Score: 7/10
Thoughts by TSR: If nothing else, this serves as a far better first impression than the short teaser that was released for The Hunger Games during the 2011 MTV VMAs. That minute of Jennifer Lawrence running through the forest did nothing to get me interested in the film. At that time I hadn’t read the novels by Suzanne Collins, though it’s still a miserable teaser now that I have read them. While I sped through them (I read all three in about two weeks) it was easy to get caught up in the hoopla. Now, over a year removed, I’m sort of back to my earlier apathetic state. This is a perfectly fine trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It just doesn’t fill me with renewed excitement for the series.
Perhaps it would if I had liked the first film more. It featured some solid production design, costumes, and performances, but never transcended being passable. This one looks to be more of the same. Philip Seymour Hoffman is on board to class up the joint, so that’s a plus. One thing I do appreciate is that the trailer focuses on solidifying the central conflict. Not showing much from the actual Hunger Games’ arena is something the feature trailer for the first film did well, and they repeat that here. There are hints of the Quarter Quell at the end, but most of what we see is the fallout from Katniss and Peeta’s actions in the 74th Hunger Games.
I’m hardly jumping up and down with excitement for this film. Still, this trailer indicates that the series isn’t taking a nosedive into being the terrible adaptation it could have been. That’s probably good enough.