Super Bowl Comercials: 'The Hunger Games' trailer

Stanley Tucci and Jennifer Lawrence in "The Hunger Games"

And finishing our Super Bowl trailer coverage is the one that I didn't actually see tonight: "The Hunger Games."

Although the trailer debuted online a few days ago, I was waiting to see it live during the big game, but somehow missed it. I'm going to have to back through my DVR recording to see if I can find it.

Anyway, the trailer for the highly anticipated feature adaptation of the first novel in Suzanne Collins' best-selling trilogy is definitely worth the wait. Unfortunately, I can't embed the trailer, but you can click this link to watch the 60 second spot.

Although the TV spot includes mostly footage from the full trailer, it does add several new scenes, most noticeably a peak at Caesar Flickerman's (Stanley Tucci) interview with Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence). We also get to see Katniss imploring Gale (Liam Hemsworth) to look after her family.

Fans of the books will note that the movie is apparently deviating from the source material as to how Katniss comes to possess the mockingjay pin, which becomes an important plot device in the books. I'm not surprised since the person who gives Katniss the pin in the books is ultimately a minor character.

Super Bowl Comercials: 'The Lorax' trailer

Hollywood's mining of the works of the Dr. Seuss continues with Universal Pictures' "The Lorax," from the folks behind "Despicable Me."

The 30-second Super Bowl spot manages to include some of the best bits from the existing trailers while giving us a few new glimpses at the film.



The Lorax's line about "That's a woman?!" pretty much sold me on the film when I saw it in the full trailer and it's a good way to end the TV spot as well. There were also the newly revealed bit using the fluffy bears as a defibrillator.

The movie features the voices of Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Betty White and more.

"Despicable Me" co-director Chris Renaud and screenwriter Ken Daurio are both involved "The Lorax." Both films were animated by Illumination Entertainment.

"The Lorax" hits theaters March 2.

Super Bowl Comercials: 'John Carter' trailer

Having never read the John Carter novels, I can't say how true Disney's adaptation is to the originals, but with every trailer or TV spot, I'm more and more intrigued.

The latest was a 30 second spot debuting during tonight's Super Bowl.



Although most of the footage had already been revealed in the two previous trailers, I have to say I loved the design of this spot, with scenes from the movie former the words John Carter, which morph to reveal the film's logo.

There's also an extended version available online which adds 30 seconds of footage which is again almost entirely from the existing trailers. Just on a design standpoint, I like the shorter version.

 Written and directed by Andrew Stanton ("WALL-E," "Finding Nemo"), "John Carter" will serve as his live action debut. He is the second Pixar star to try his hand at live action, and considering how well Brad Bird's "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" worked, I'm hopeful he can do the same.

The story follows a Civil War veteran (Taylor Kitsch, "Friday Night Lights") who is transplanted to Mars and finds himself in the middle of a war. It is based on the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, who also write the "Tarzan" stories.

The film will hit theaters March 9.

Super Bowl Comercials: 'G,.I. Joe: Retribution' trailer

I made my thoughts on "G.I. Joe: Retribution," the sequel to 2009's "Rise of Cobra," pretty clear last summer after it was announced "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" director John Chu was at the helm.

With most of the original cast tossed aside, I didn't hold much hope. Then the new cast started to take shape with a few surprises, most notably Bruce Willis. Even better, the first full trailer revealed that despite the cast overhaul, it seemed they weren't throwing away the story buildup from the first one.

Then they had to go and do this:



If you want to use some Jay-Z in your trailer, I'm fine with that. Use it in the movie, go right ahead. But to have Dwayne Johnson (portraying Roadblock) quote him in the actual movie? Seriously? And then use that clip in your big Super Bowl spot?

I'm not writing the film off for a second time quite yet, but I'm going to call this one a big step back, especially after how good the full trailer was.

Super Bowl Comercials: 'Battleship' trailer

Having already seen the available trailers for Universal Pictures' "Battleship" before tonight's Super Bowl, I have been wondering just how they people behind the summer blockbuster went from the Hasbro game to the movie they ultimately produced.

Starring Liam Neeson ("The Grey") and Taylor Kitsch ("Friday Night Lights"), the film follows a battle group caught by a seemingly alien armada which traps them and what appears to be Hawaii inside an impenetrable barrier.



The Super Bowl spots spend more time on the civilian side as cities and highways full of cars are decimated by the attacking force. Like the other trailers, this one name drops "Transformers" quite a bit, so here's hoping they remember to bring a story along for the ride.

Unlike Michael Bay, director Peter Berg is better known for less special effect heavy fare such as the film version of "Friday Night Lights" and "The Kingdom." Screenwriters Jon and Erich Hoeber last teamed up for the comedy action flick "Red."

"Battleship" is set to hit theaters May 18.

Super Bowl Comercials: 'Act of Valor' trailer

While most of the Super Bowl movie spots were for films not hitting theaters until March or later, "Act of Valor" was one of two February releases to get special TV spots during the big game. (The other being the "Star Wars" 3D re-release.)

As every bit of publicity for the film so far has stated, "Act of Valor" stars active duty Navy Seals and promises to be a more realistic portrayal of the actions of those soldiers.



From what I can tell, the Super Bowl spot reveal little to no new footage not already seen in the existing trailers. While the idea of casting with acting duty soldiers could just be a gimmick, the more I see from  the film, the more I want to see it.

Directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh (who worked together on the documentary short "Navy SWCC"), the Relativity Media film is based on a screenplay from Kurt Johnstad ("300").

The film is rated R for strong violence including some torture, and for language.

Super Bowl Comercials: 'The Avengers' trailer

Hollywood had quite a night during tonight's Super Bowl, with a bevy of films showing new footage in commercials.

Up first is Marvel's "The Avengers," which debuted a 30 second spot packed quite a lot of action in a small package.



Like in the full trailer, the spot begins with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) talking about dire the situation is, necessitating the formation of the Avengers team.

From there we get some quick cuts to the various team members, including apparently the first meeting between Captain American (Chris Evans) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).

"I still believe in heroes," Fury says as we watch a panning shot of the entire team, which also includes Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).

Directed by Joss Whedon ("Serenity"), "The Avengers" is one of the biggest can't-miss blockbusters of this summer.