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Like Hobbits at the multiplex and red noses in winter, Katniss Everdeen has become something of a cinematic mainstay over the past three years and she's back on the big screen this week in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, the latest instalment in the mega-hit franchise.
Luckily, we've put together this handy catch-up to make sure you're not left in the dark when the curtain goes up on Mockingjay - Part 1. Let the games commence...
Panem
This is The Capitol, aka the capital city of Panem, aka post-apocalypse America. Panem is a dictatorship divided into 12 Districts, ruled by the tyrannical President Snow (Donald Sutherland). District 13 was apparently destroyed during an earlier uprising. The 12 Districts are all poor and labour-oriented. The Capitol is strictly reserved for anybody who looks like a '90s Club Kid.
Hunger Games
Every year, two competitors (or 'tributes') from each District are selected to take part in the Hunger Games. Think Battle Royale minus the school uniforms with a dash of Running Man. The event is televised throughout Panem as the tributes all attempt to kill each other. Like Celebrity Big Brother, there can only be one winner.
Our Heroine
This is Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence). She's defiant, gutsy and has no idea how gorgeous she is. (Obviously.) Katniss lives in District 12 and harbours secret feelings for the hunky Gale (Liam Hemsworth), who she often illegally hunts with. They obviously like each other but neither will admit it because then we'd have no story.
The Team
Katniss and Peeta are assigned their Hunger Games mentor, an alcoholic former tribute called Haymitch (Woody Harrelson). He has boy band hair. They're chaperoned by Effie Trinkett (Elizabeth Banks), who looks like an extra from a Katy Perry music video, and assigned a stylist, Cinna (Lenny Kravitz).
Mockingjay
Cinna has fun creating not-so-subtly defiant outfits for Katniss, including one that turns her into a human fireball. He sends her into the 74th Hunger Games arena wearing a pin featuring a mockingjay. The mockingjay is a crossbreed, a result of genetic tampering in the Capitol. It's going to be important, so don't forget it.
Rue
In the arena, Katniss survives the initial bloodbath. She befriends Rue, a young girl from District 11. Soon after, Rue's killed and, in her first act of defiance against the Capitol, Katniss covers her in flowers. Meanwhile, we see that Rue's death has incited a rebellion in her home, District 11.
Very Berry
Katniss and Peeta somehow manage to evade being killed by giant wasps, various bloodthirsty tributes and scary hellbeast things. They end up the two final tributes, but the games will only be over when there's only one tribute left standing. In a further show of defiance, Katniss and Peeta decide to poison themselves with berries, leaving the 74th Hunger Games bereft of a winner.
Rebellion
Making things worse, Katniss' sign of defiance against the Capitol has incited a rebellion. In District 8, the mockingjay is used as a symbol for the rebellion. A pissed-off President Snow worries that Katniss might actually become a beacon of hope for the rebellion. While plotting to eliminate her, he tells her that she needs to make the world believe that she saved Peeta because she loves him, not because she wants to defy the Capitol. As part of his divine torture, he makes her wear a wedding dress.
Terminate, Terminate
Unconvinced by Katniss' show of affection, President Snow decides to chuck her back into the arena for the 75th Hunger Games, in which past tributes will compete. He calls it the Quarter Quell, which is nice and onomatopoeic. Her entire species has to be eliminated, he says. The other victors. Now, because of her, they all pose a threat. Because of her, they all think they're invincible.
Tick Tock
Scary stuff happens, including a deadly fog and killer monkeys. The tributes discover that the arena is a giant clock, which is pretty impressive, with each segment containing a different threat that's unleashed on the hour. (Weirdly, nobody wonders just how much money these insanely complex arenas cost to make.)
The Pact
Katniss discovers that Peeta and the others made a pact to ensure that she survived the tournament no matter what she's the figurehead for the uprisings in Panem, even if she doesn't want to be. Understandably, this upsets Katniss a bit, and prompts her to reveal she actually does have some feelings for Peeta. Nobody needs me, says Peeta. I do. I need you, replies Katniss. Somewhere, Gale smashes another vase.
Mockingjay Again
Katniss discovers that she's been saved by head gameskeeper Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who's secretly been heading up the resistance against President Snow. Katniss, you have been our mission from the beginning, he explains. The plan was always to get you out. Half the tributes were in on it. This is the revolution, and you are the mockingjay.
