'The Hunger Games' new clip shows Katniss meeting stylist Cinna

'The Hunger Games' heroine Katniss meets an important ally in stylist Cinna in a new clip

'Hunger Games' protagonist Katniss (played by Jennifer Lawrence, r.) meets her new stylist Cinna (portrayed by Lenny Kravitz, l.).

Lionsgate/YouTube screenshot

March 7, 2012

In less than a month we’ll finally see if The Hunger Games is really the next Harry Potter (as Lionsgate is no doubt hoping it is) or if it’s just another YA book turned major motion picture.

Lionsgate recently released a clip from the film, focusing on the meeting of protagonist Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) with Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), the stylist who designs her outfits for the titular Hunger Games.

While most of the citizens of the Capitol of Panem – the world of The Hunger Games – are contented with the Games’ existence, Cinna is considerably less contented, which is part of the reason why he sympathizes so much with Katniss.  In the clip below, Cinna discusses his unconventional plans for designing Katniss’ uniform. (SPOILER ALERT!) They involve fire.

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Check out the clip:

If there’s one thing that feels a bit clunky about the clip above, it’s the constant infodump for the sole benefit of the audience. In the book, everything that Cinna says about sponsors and “coal miners’ outfits” and how they usually dress the tributes is the sort of thing Katniss would already know. Hence, it’s referenced almost exclusively in her internal monologue, as it should be.

Here, the dialogue is the vehicle for the exposition, which is a problem that YA fantasy/sci-fi adaptations – the early Harry Potters, for example – have run into before.

Hopefully, it’s less of a problem after most of the world-building of the film has been established early on. The trailers have, in this writer’s humble opinion, been fairly excellent so far, so let’s cross our fingers that that’s an indication of the overall quality of the film.

What say you, Hunger Games fans? Does the featured clip excite you? Get your Hunger Games blood going? Let us know in the comments.

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The Hunger Games hits theaters March 23rd, 2012.

Ben Moore blogs at Screen Rant.