It’s Selina here, ready to give my immediate reactions to the just-aired Hunger Games trailer! Did you love it?? Cause I sure did!

Obviously you will get much more structured opinions on the Hunger Games Chat, but these are just my immediate thoughts – so many thoughts, both positive and negative. Let’s start with the negative (I nitpick because I care):

I felt the trailer lost a little impact because of its very linear narrative. I’m a fan of flashy, disjointed trailers, not ones that basically tell a complete story (though I understand the need because a lot of people won’t know the story). I watched the lead-up, just wanting to get to the Games, and then we got there and the trailer ended. What?!

I was also expecting to see more of the Tributes. And for that matter, more of Peeta.  I happen to be a big Peeta fan (Richard, I’m looking at you), and while I loved his quote (more on that later), I needed more. Maybe that’s just me though.

Also a small nag: I can’t tell the difference between what is District 12 and what is the Arena. It’s all the same green forest (clearly filmed in the same place), which was very confusing. I also felt like District 12 was too clean.  Too rural, too peaceful. The people weren’t scared enough. I needed desperation – although the new material with Prim’s hysterical fear of the Games kind of made up for that!

But let’s go positive now, because oh em gee – how chilling was this trailer?! The tone of it, its chronological countdown to the Games (as summary-ish as it felt), was just of ultimate doom. Gale’s attempts to reassure Katniss just make it worse, too, because we know how hopeless it really is to get out alive. I loved this trailer, and I loved how it kept referring back to the District, and how these Hunger Games are basically wrecking what could otherwise be a tolerable existence. And how much of a messed up, psychopathic freak show the Games really are.

I loved seeing clips of District 12 watching Katniss in the Games. It proves my theory that we’ll get more of Gale, Prim and the others throughout the film, and that the action will be cut up with the emotional reactions of everyone watching from the outside. I’m also hoping we’ll get more of Haymitch and Cinna this way, and that it’ll build everyone up as more complete, relatable characters.

In the trailer I especially enjoyed the clips of Katniss in the Capitol before the Games begin. Her being made beautiful, the shot of her on the stage – truly transformed, but still as terrified – was perfect. Exactly like I imagined it. My favourite moment in the trailer was Peeta and Katniss sitting together, looking out over the city. A moment of peace, the calm before the storm. And of course, Peeta’s quote – the one which I incidentally pulled out of the book for our discussion on his character last week on the Hunger Games Chat episode. I chose it because it is one of his most defining lines, and clearly the trailer editors agreed.

I thought the trailer set up Katniss’ conflict with regard to Peeta fairly well – here’s this guy she barely knows, but he is sharing this unspeakable horror with her. They bond. Meanwhile, Gale is left alone, sitting in the quiet space he used to share with Katniss. It’s establishing the “love triangle,” but thankfully not overplaying it or trying to make it more than it is! I was very relieved that the trailer didn’t over-romanticize anything.

Seeing Cinna for the first time was immensely satisfying. As everyone else I had my doubts about Lenny Kravitz, but they’re gone now. I’m sold; he’s Cinna. (Sadly I can’t yet say the same for Haymitch. Sorry, Richard, we disagree again!) And I’m absolutely loving Donald Sutherland for President Snow, his small presence in the trailer was ominous and memorable.

Finally, I have to talk about Katniss herself: I am very impressed with how this movie has resisted Hollywood-ing her up. Jennifer Lawrence is obviously a beautiful girl, but making her plainer in District 12 makes her transformation in the Capitol so much more powerful. The Hunger Games has managed what Harry Potter could not (how underwhelming was Hermione’s “transformation” at the Yule Ball? She looked exactly the same!), and it adds so much authenticity.

To sum up: I thought this trailer gave a really good look into the film. The filming style, the film’s almost claustrophobic feel came across, as did its budget (ahem), and its emotional core. I would have liked to see more of the Games themselves, but in a way I like that the trailer sets up the story, but doesn’t spoil what we’re all waiting for. Prim’s presence gave us Katniss’ motivation and showed her character, and tracking Prim through the trailer gave it great continuity.

I think what’s gonna make or break this movie, more than its special effects and action sequences, is going to be its emotional quality and whether or not it manages to make us feel for Katniss and the other lives touched by this horrible, tragic situation. That’s the one thing this trailer didn’t show: the humanity of the Tributes, and the cruel ways in which they are forced to behave. That said, the way in which they’ve established Katniss and her relationships with Gale and Prim gives me a lot of hope that this movie will indeed bring out the human aspects of it all, and leave us horrified and slightly scarred by the Capitol’s horrible acts… that’s what’s so compelling about the books, after all.