'Hunger Games': Let's Dissect the Trailer!
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Welcome to District 12, the poorest little frontier village in the dystopian society of Panem. I always pictured Katniss Everdeen's hometown as an unremittingly bleak, monochromatic place — sort of like Cormac McCarthy's The Road, or like Chino on The O.C. — but I'm intrigued by the film's portrayal, which looks a little bit like Tom Sawyer's Island. Except, you know, with an electric fence and miserable poverty.
If you haven't watched it yet, click the link to check out the first full-length Hunger Games trailer!
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Behind the fence, Katniss hangs out with her not-so-platonic hunting buddy Gale. The lush visuals here should provide a nice counterpoint to the metropolitan Capitol and to the Arena — which contains a decidedly more dangerous forest.
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Check out Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, rocking some truly terrifying make-up as she cheerfully plays MC at the District 12 reaping — the event where two young people are chosen to fight to the death at that year's Games. Fun fact: Elizabeth Banks' participation in Hunger Games seems to have been willed into existence by the singular faith of EW's Keith Staskiewicz, who declared her the perfect Effie way back in October 2010.
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The children of District 12 await the reaping. Fashionwise, we're hovering around ''Colonial Puritan'' with just a mix of ''Orwellian stormtrooper chic.''
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To save her young sister, Katniss volunteers to fight in The Hunger Games. It's a heroic moment of self-sacrifice. By the way, I'm loving the stormtrooper polo pants.
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Fellow District 12-er Peeta Mellark gets chosen to join Katniss in the arena. Something about Josh Hutcherson's face here seems uncannily perfect: Didn't you always picture Peeta with a pained, slightly wounded expression on his face?
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Hunger Games fans know that Peeta and Katniss have a history. Many years earlier, the baker's son gave the starving Katniss some bread to share with her family. The look on Jennifer Lawrence's face seems to say ''I remember you, do you remember me?'' while also clearly stating ''I guess I have to kill you now.''
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Our first peek at the Capitol, the futuristic city that forms the seat of Panem's government. Looks a little bit like Washington, D.C., doesn't it?
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Lenny Kravitz plays Cinna, Katniss' stylist. ''I'm here to help you make an impression,'' he says, as we see shots of Katniss getting waxed and made up. You could say that the whole thing is a metaphor for the transformation of young girl into a media starlet. You could even say that it's a specific metaphor for the transformation of relative unknown Jennifer Lawrence from ''that muddy Oscar nominee in Winter's Bone'' into ''the next young superstar.''
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Stanley Tucci plays Caesar Flickerman, the Hunger Games' very own Ryan Seacrest. Look at that hair!
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Donald Sutherland plays President Snow, the vicious ruler of Panem. Snow doesn't factor as prominently in Games as he does in the book's sequels, but Sutherland's deep voice practically steals the show here. But more importantly, can we talk about that dude's mustache?
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This is just a quick shot, but it appears to be our first glimpse of Katniss' famous ''Girl on Fire'' dress — which will presumably be rendered with digital effects, unless Jennifer Lawrence has a terrible agent. I'm digging the look of the Capitol — very Blade Runner.
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The trailer focuses entirely on the extended set-up for the Hunger Games, and with good reason: Once the action moves into the arena, the story becomes a violent festival of kid-killing. It's still unclear how the presumably PG-13 movie will deal with the violence, but the shots of teenagers training to kill each other add an eerie touch to the preview.
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Rue, the young female tribute from District 11, is a pivotal supporting character. If you don't recognize actress Amandla Sternberg, it's probably because you didn't see Colombiana — good for you! — where she played the younger version of Zoe Saldana's character in the film's extended Parkour prologue.
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Wes Bentley plays Seneca Crane, the Head Gamemaker of this year's Hunger Games. It's a small but memorable role. Equally memorable but decidedly less small: Bentley's absolutely bananas facial hair. Is anyone else secretly hoping that the Hunger Games movie proves incredibly influential for American fashion?
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Woody Harrelson appears for exactly half a second in this trailer, but his character — the perpetually soused tribute trainer Haymitch — is a fan favorite. Harrelson was an unexpected choice for the role, but I like his look here: He looks and sounds old and weathered, but his blue eyes (and that Beatles-worthy haircut) give him a youthful air. ''This is the time to show them everything,'' he says. ''Make sure they remember you.''
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Before the Games, Peeta and Katniss share a heart-to-heart conversation on the rooftop overlooking the Capitol. This continues the year's least-remarked-upon Hollywood trend: Quick shots in movie trailers of Jennifer Lawrence sitting down facing her emo-dude love interest while etched against an interesting backdrop. (See also: X-Men: First Class.)
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The iconic mockingjay pin was given to Katniss by her District 12 friend Madge Undersee, and serves as a visual jab at the Capitol. The mockingjay species was created by the intermixing of mutant jabberjays and mockingbirds, a genetic accident that proved that the Capitol couldn't control everything. The mockingjay pin was also the hot-ticket fetish item at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. Expect to see these everywhere next year.
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Katniss flashes the three-fingered salute of District 12. Over the course of the book, it becomes her signature — a kind of unintentional ''fight the power'' sign.
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Here we find Gale sitting in nature looking sad and thoughtful. Expect lots of shots like this in the movie — the character is barely involved in the story after the District 12 prologue, although actor Liam Hemsworth has more to look forward to if/when the Games sequels get the big-screen treatment.
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The Games begin with a mad rush by the tributes to reach the Cornucopia, a huge horn that contains sundry weapons and supplies for those who can live long enough to grab them. This is where the trailer leaves off, as Katniss picks up a backpack and makes a mad rush into the forest. Is it March yet?
If you haven't watched it yet, click the link to check out the first full-length Hunger Games trailer!