Hungry Games

Ahhh, the Hunger Games. The movie based on the hottest teen fiction series since Harry Potter got too old. This flick has been at the top of the charts since opening a few weeks ago. I finally got out to see it last night and I was surprised.

I was excited to see this because of all of the hype. Even moreso, just before entering the theater, I heard a news report about a couple of idiots in Utah that had set some booby traps on a hiking trail. Apparently they were inspired by the movie. Now I'm not a promoter of planning senseless physical harm to random people, but there must have been a very strong scene in the movie that gave these two turds the idea. Something "Rambo" except with inexperienced teens.

Let me start by saying, I haven't read the books. Maybe I should. The movie seemed to assume that we knew a lot more than they were telling us. Basically, the movie is set in a bizarre post apocalyptic future. This I gathered from the clever pre-lottery informational film. Beyond that, I was left guessing about the motivations and the background of the entire plot. In any case, my biggest gripe with the entire movie is that I'VE SEEN IT BEFORE!! I've seen this movie in slightly different variations at least 5 or 6 times. Random people are selected to play in a cruel, survivor-esque duel to the death. Of course, televising it adds a "shocking" sense of sensationalism. The plot is so worn out. There isn't much you can do with it to make it original. The Hunger Games does nothing. It follows it to its plodding, predictable end. Good guys win, bad guys lose, and the "red shirts" find ways of dying so as not to incriminate the main characters.

More than this was the weak attempt to make this "world" an over the top version of a retro future. Low budget costuming reminiscent of early sci-fi movies such as Farenheit 451, or Soylent Green. The people of The Capitol were SOOOOOO extravagant with their cheezy style hairdos and wildly steam punkish fashion. It all seemed so unoriginal. This movie was a Frankenstein copy of several older, less popular, science fiction B movies. Maybe its so popular now because kids in school have never seen any of these low budget flops.

Overall it was a so so movie. It was slow, predictable, and no surprises. I'm only mildly interested in what happens next. If I had to guess, there is a love triangle conflict, Prim is going to get chosen for one of the next games, and the President is going to find a way to punish District 12. Not much else that could happen. Oh, and by the way, those two goons from Utah? They must have read the books, because I saw nothing in the movie to inspire anything they could have come up with. FAIL