So let's say you're the leader of a post apocalyptic nation, and you're barely holding onto your seat of power. Some upstart archer decides that she's better than your whole scene, and while she's a reluctant figure at first, she takes to it really quickly – signifying that she's about 150% tired of your business. Every nook and cranny of your system is being subverted, hell even the poorest and most desperate among you are starting to finally rise up and say something. Clearly, an example has to be made in order to bring things back into your court. Which is exactly what President Snow is doing in this The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part I trailer, as he's sending a message out to all of Panem, especially Katniss Everdeen, with Peeta Mellark by his side.
Through the official Hunger Games YouTube channel, we see a video of Donald Sutherland doing the two things that he does best: using his warm voice over voice, as well as the best version of his stern and cold visage, to tell the people of Panem that if they play ball, everything will be a-ok. For those who were wondering where Josh Hutcherson's character of Peeta was during the final minutes of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, he was apparently being fitted for a snazzy white suit. Which, of course, was right after being kidnapped during the climactic finale of the last film's Quarter Quell.
Score another one for the marketing department at Lionsgate/Summit, as they're back to their old tricks with a new viral campaign extolling the virtues of the great society of Panem. If you're a fan of the books, or even if you're just a passing student of political power and upheaval, you know that this is just the first signs of the walls around District 1 beginning to fracture. Pretty soon, President Snow is going to wish he wasn't wearing white – because there's a lot of red in store for the events of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I.
While I detested The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, I did so for the best reason possible: I hated the book, so I hated the movie because it stuck so damned closely to the story it was based off of. Frances Lawrence has become the David Yates of The Hunger Games series by taking it over mid stream, and bringing it to a climactic two part finish. He's come a long way from butchering Constantine, and even his adaptation of I Am Legend managed to be three quarters of an excellent film and one quarter of a good one. He's grown into big budget spectacle, as well as all star casts, rather well – and I look forward to the next two films, solely because even if the source material doesn't always hit the spot for me, I'll at the very least know that it's being done right in the eyes of the book's story. If there's anything a book lover treasures above all else in a film adaptation, it's when they do right by the story. So far, The Hunger Games is doing a bang up job.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay breaks free with Part I on November 15th of this year, and concludes with Part II on November 20th of next year.
