The Hunger Games Super Bowl Commercial Review

Fans of the Hunger Games book trilogy have been eagerly awaiting the release of the first film, which hits theaters March 23rd.  The Hunger Games Super Bowl commercial is the second trailer for the film, and it was released online prior to the Super Bowl. The Hunger Games trailer has plenty in it that should get fans pretty pumped. Based on the novels by Suzanne Collins, Hunger Games takes place in a post-war United States now called Panem, which is divided into 12 districts that work to support The Capitol. Each year, The Capitol holds the Hunger Games, where a boy and a girl from each district (called tributes) are selected via lottery to participate in a fight to the death.  Hunger Games follows the tributes from District 12—Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), as they team up to battle their opponents in the games. The trailer shows how Katniss came to be tribute (volunteering for her little sister who was chosen), as well as some of the incredibly interesting characters in the film.  Stanley Tucci appears to be a great casting choice as Caesar Flickerman, as so does Donald Sutherland as President Snow (provided he can REALLY show his evil side).  Lenny Kravitz plays Cinna, Katniss' friend and stylist.  Should be interesting to see how he does.  And Woody Harrelson plays former Hunger Games Champion and current tribute mentor Haymitch Abernathy (not seen in the trailer because I'm guessing that he absolutely crushes it in the role).

Of course, with any film adaptation, there will be liberties taken with the original source material.  And the trailer shows us the first clue of this: Katniss gives the Mockingjay to her little sister, Prim.  In the book, that pin was given to Katniss by a friend.  Is it enough of a change to get upset about?  No.  But if the filmmakers change up some central portions of the plot, it might not bode well for the film at the box office.