Survivor meets The Truman Show meets Demolition Man meets Marie Antoinette meets Winter's Bone meets Lord of the Flies

Rating: 3/10 (16 September 2012)

'The Hunger Games' is an amalgamation of many films and TV shows we've seen before. For starters, the long-running reality show 'Survivor' comes to mind as a good part of the film is set in the forest where the characters must rely on survival skills to survive. The film's premise, in which children and teens between the ages of 12 and 18 must fight to the death as part of a televised spectacle, is reminiscent of 1998's 'The Truman Show', where Jim Carrey's entire life is put under the microscope of a reality show, broadcast to millions.
The setting of Hunger Games is a post-apocalyptic dystopian future similar to the 2010 British film, 'Never Let Me Go'. Both films posit a future where a society of mindless, brainwashed automatons are unable to rebel against a totalitarian system that calls for deathly self-sacrifice of the young. With all the characters adopting such a one note conformity, there's very little wiggle room for any kind of interesting drama in the film, which relies more on the cheap thrill of watching teenagers attempt to do themselves in vis-a-vis mortal combat.
The rulers of the post-apocalyptic country we're introduced to, 'Panem', are more like unpleasant fops from an 18th Century Louis VI French court than the ineffectual pacifists of the 1993 sci-fi satire, 'Demolition Man', starring Sandra Bullock. And our 'common folk' protagonists 'Katniss' and 'Peeta', from 'District 12', remind us of an Appalachian setting, similar to scenes from 'Winter's Bone', the same film in which the Hunger Games' star, Jennifer Lawrence, was nominated for a Best Actress Academy award.
The Hunger Games takes an interminably long time before we get to the meat of the story. The reason for this is that the film's scenarist, Suzanne Collins, seeks to extract as many tears as possible from her teenage audience, by dwelling on the victimization on the protagonist's younger sister, Primrose, and Katniss' sacrifice, when she volunteers to take her place as part of the Hunger Games. Can the cold-hearted leaders at the 'Capitol' be stand-ins for parents in general, as the 'kids' appear to be completely at the mercy of adults who hypocritically claim to be acting beneficently on their behalf.
The Hunger Games won't begin until we're treated to the next long-winded sequence where the principals are introduced to the public via the big media broadcast. The criticism of the media here seems to be all too obvious but Stanley Tucci is effective as the foppish master of ceremonies. Like many of the 'twists' throughout Hunger Games, Kantniss' dress catching on fire during her TV interview, hardly seems fantastic at all. If you want better 'magic', check out any Harry Potter flick instead!
Finally, we get to the meat and potatoes of the film--the fight to the death between the kids. One immediately thinks of a futuristic 'Lord of the Flies' here. Interestingly enough, director Gary Ross's herky-jerky style prevents us from really experiencing the full import of the violence. On one hand, that's commendable since the film's basic premise is wholly unappetizing. On the other hand, it prevents the film from being suspenseful, as the violence doesn't seem real, suggesting that these characters are also not real people.
Hunger Games finally morphs into a completely dopey and comical spectacle as the teenagers (aided by the surly establishment) attempt to do one another in. As the games begin, the kids begin hacking each other with machetes. The rest of it is completely derivative including a dull computer-generated fire, a wasp nest falling from a tree, booby-trap explosions, more computer-generated nonsense (a pack of gnarling hounds), poisonous berries and a fight to the death on top of a weird sculpture called 'Cornucopia'.
If this isn't ridiculous enough, at a certain point, the powers that be declare that there can now be two survivors, provided they're from the same district. This turns out to be a ruse and the new rule is rescinded which lead the protagonists to threaten mutual suicide. Although the bulk of the people are depicted as enjoying the spectacle of the mass killings at the beginning, the authorities now fear that a mutual suicide may cause unrest in the districts. Hence, the basic rules are changed, and now two are allowed to survive, instead of one.
As Jennifer Lawrence appears to have signed on for three more Hunger Games sequels, she'll probably be set financially for life. Whether her overall reputation will survive after acting in such drivel, remains to be seen.
The Hunger Games is really designed for young teenagers and older, less sophisticated teens who have little interest in reading anything resembling what any reasonably educated adult may refer to as 'literature'. It's a film that's mostly devoid of 'ideas' and appeals to devotees of soap operas, who always seem to end up entranced with one-dimensional villains and heroes or heroines, that inevitably end up on elevated pedestals!