THE HUNGER GAMES Trailer: 5 Things We've Learned & 1 We Didn't

For fans of Suzanne Collins' young adult, science fiction novel, The Hunger Games, Monday morning was like unwrapping your favorite toy on Christmas morning. Initial reactions to the release of the first full length theatrical trailer have met mostly with positive acclaim. Now that the euphoric fervor has had time to abate, let's look at what we now know about the movie, and something that we should still be wary of. Here are my top five takeaways from the trailer, in no particular order. 5. All fears you might have had about Jennifer Lawrence in the role of Katniss Everdeen should be put to rest. It looks like her turn in Winter's Bone was no fluke. This girl has the chops. The raw emotion she shows as her younger sister Primrose is selected as the District 12 tribute and her subsequent volunteering to take her place should give any movie fan chills, and fans of the book, well, we couldn't have asked for a better on screen moment than that. 4. The score raises this to an entirely new level of awesome. I know Danny Elfman and T-Bone Burnett are collaborators on the music for this film, and I'm not completely sure which of them is responsible for the overlying track in the trailer (I suspect Elfman due to its orchestral nature), but I do know that it packs an emotional punch and induces chills that elevate this to a place that scripted performances can't reach on their own. Music is a driving force for emotion and it is used brilliantly here. 3. The cornucopia was missing. As the story goes, at the beginning of each Games, the tributes form a circle to await the start of competition, at which time they run for the center of the ring where a large cornucopia awaits bearing weapons and supplies that the tributes can use to aid them in battle. All I saw was a small pile of stuff. Of course the editing of the trailer could have been out of context, so we'll have to wait and see, but this is sort of a significant piece that I hope the filmmakers haven't overlooked. 2. Effie Trinket looks like she was created by Tim Burton. While I guess they've sort of captured the essence of Effie as a bit of a flighty eccentric, I could easily mistake her for my elderly grandmother, who still wears clothing that went out of style 30 years ago to Sunday services. I dig me some Elizabeth Banks and have no doubt she'll bring a lot to the role, but Effie just looks a lot older and done up that I expected. 1. The first half of this flick looks absolutely amazing. I say this because its the only thing this trailer shows us aside from the very final seconds as the Games begin. Everything this trailer gives me is nearly spot on to how I pictured this world to be as I read the book. That said, it was the one thing I didn't see that concerns me. The Hunger Games is a young adult novel. Reports say the movie is the most expensive venture ever for Lionsgate. There is no way that this film releases with anything other than a PG-13 rating. No way they jeopardize losing the heart of the fan-base in the name of R rated notoriety. My biggest concern has always been that the studio would water down the content of the film to appease a PG-13 audience. The themes are dark and violent. Children die. Brutally. To veil these moments behind the curtain of a flawed ratings system would serve as a huge disservice to the novel this film is based on. Give the kids some credit. They can handle it. I'm not at all suggesting we should be innundated with gratuitous, gore filled visuals, but I am certain that turning a blind eye to these moments would drain the emotional impact that they are rightfully deserved on screen. While everything we see in this first trailer suggests they are on the right path, we are still left to wonder which direction the film will ultimately take. It makes one wonder if this was done deliberately to delay the inevitable disappointment of watered down Hollywood fare, or to offer up a well plotted marketing campaign that builds to a crescendo of awesomeness that culminates with a tremendously satisfying film. Here's hoping for the latter. In the meantime, may the odds be ever in your favor and watch the trailer one more time... Lionsgate will release The Hunger Games on March 23, 2012.