The Hunger Games

I just got back from seeing The Hunger Games and would like to say that even though I didn't read the book, I have just as much a right to have an opinion of the movie as anyone else. I assume the people I saw seated in lines on the sidewalk waiting to be seated for showings that were still three hours later probably read the book.

The Hunger Games is about a futuristic society that has an annual event called the reaping where they take a boy and a girl from each of the twelve districts and offer them up in a gladiator type of event where they fight to the death until there is just one survivor. The reason the government does this is to remind their citizens how bad war is, but it's really a punishment since the districts had risen up in civil war 75 years earlier. The event is broadcast for everyone to watch. Before you criticize their society for being barbaric and depraved, you have to remember that we have shows like Jersey Shore.

I was completely entertained during the first half of this movie, but I felt it started to lag a little bit mid way into the competition. This movie has a lot of "Bourne Identity shaky cam shots" which I'm not a fan of. I also didn't care for the giant pit bull monsters that the people running the games could just computer generate and turn into reality.

I really liked Woody Harrrelson in this film. The younger actors had good performances but  I also thought the entire cast was great which included Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland, and even Lenny Kravitz. I loved the visuals and the stark contrast between luxurious superficial life at the Capitol and the poorer districts who lived in poverty.

Here are a few things I  learned from watching The Hunger Games:

1) It sucks to be a little 13 year old girl who gets drafted into the Hunger Games.
2) The Hunger Games is like The Truman Show on steroids.
3) When you make the scout sign in an effort to quiet people down, it may actually cause a riot.
4) I also got some great beard ideas for the next time I decide to stop shaving.

I liked The Hunger Games and give it 7.7 stars. I'm sure there will be many critics who consider it to be the next Twilight, but I always seem to enjoy movies that are about people who struggle with an oppressive and intimidating government.