Predictable and unexciting.

Rating: 4/10 (29 March 2012)

Let me start of this review by saying that I have never read The Hunger Games book. That may to some of you discredit what I have to say here, but please read with an open mind.
First of all, I only went to see this movie because of the MASSIVE amount of hype its garnered. When I initially saw the preview's to it a few months ago, it did not seem like anything special or something that I personally would I particularly would care to go see. However, I was offered a chance to go see it (Free of charge) here recently so I took up the offer in hopes that I might be pleasantly surprised. Needless to say...I wasn't.
In short the Hunger Games is about a girl named Katniss Everdeen and her trials surviving the Hunger Games, which is in itself kind of like televised modern day gladiators. Katniss selflessly volunteers to participate in the games when her much younger more innocent little sister is randomly selected to represent their district.
There wasn't very much I cared for in the movie itself. The first half of the movie is spent basically building up to the game itself, showing little tidbits of training and preparation but nothing really exciting. The second half of the movie is mostly just Katness hiding from other competitors waiting for them to pick each other off (Which in reality would be the smart thing to do)...However it makes for a relatively dull movie. The actions sequences in the movie are few and far between, and only mildly exciting when they do occur.
The thing that really bothered me about the movie though was the predictability of it all. For example...(MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD)... Katniss and the boy selected to compete alongside her in the games (Peeta Mellark) create a faulty love interest with other in order to gain sponsorship during the games. Which apparently having good sponsorship really helps your odds of winning. Anyway, in order to create suspense the proprietors of the games change the rules which originally stated that there can only be one winner of the games changed to their can be one winning district (two individuals) to win. Of course they go back on their word at the end and expect Katness and Peeta to kill each other; however their plans are thwarted when Peeta and Katness enter into an apparent suicide pact after which they allow them both to live.
To me...That was just a total cop out...I would have been much more impressed (And would have raised my IMDb score a few points) had Peeta and Katniss brutally fought it out to the death at the end of the movie.
Either way, I refuse to rank this movie any higher than 4/10. It was mildly enjoyable at times, but painfully uninteresting at others.
Perhaps if you're a fan of the books then this might be a better watch for you...But speaking from the standpoint of an outsider who had never even heard of the books or the movie until a few months ago...I can wholeheartedly say I was deeply unimpressed.