Outsider's Review - I didn't read the book and I am a guy

Rating: 4/10 (26 March 2012)

I do not meet the qualifications for enjoying the hunger games movie. 1) I did not read the book, 2) I am not a teenager, and 3) I am a guy. That being said, I was able to sneak my way in through the swarms of people that did meet the qualifications and I will tell you my thoughts.
Predictability. There was no question what was going to happen throughout the film. From the beginning where the little girl was chosen to the girl shooting the apple out of the pig's mouth to the 2 people winning the games. I assume that they figured 90% of the people read the book and already know what is going to happen so there is no need to hide anything or create any element of surprise...
Beauty. I am told that the girl is described as being ridiculously beautiful. I'm sorry Jennifer, you're attractive, but I would highly doubt you were in anyone's top 10 before this movie came out. I also just noticed she is supposed to be 16... I don't think so sweetheart.
Believability/Technology. So you are telling me that they have thousands of rich people in this giant city that splurge on everything, yet there are a few hundred people in each district that live in poverty. That is a stretch, but still believable, until they show you that they have the technology to create beasts out of thin air that can destroy anything in sight. Yet they still require these outlying districts do farm and get food. You can't automate a farm? Really? You can launch fireballs through the sky by swiping on some giant computer, but you can't grow food without oppressed slave-type people? They broadcast in the sky! Automate a farm, that's all I'm saying...
Twilight Effect. Twilight had the vampire and the werewolf, and that was so popular that it actually created sects of fans that were either one or the other, so let's steal that idea because young teens are all about it. So they keep going between the guy she liked from back home and the guy that she was stuck with in the game. We've seen it before, but it will probably work, again and again, because teens and preteens are all about boyfriends and girlfriends and love and... Comic characters. Luckily they didn't go that far, it's not like they created suits that not only protect them from fire but also can create it by either spinning or being in a cart.
Thinking. It seemed like a lot of the characters seemed to know and react like they knew what other characters were thinking. When the guy from district 11 let Katniss (Hate that name by the way, makes me think Cat *iss) escape because of her friendship with the little girl from district 11, how did he know anything about their relationship? I understand he overheard the girl say she killed the little girl and maybe that the two of them had some sort of friendship, but to let her go, I feel he had to have known a lot more for him to realistically do that.
Pace. I felt the movie was very drawn out, yet anytime something important was happening it was rushed.
Woody. I actually thought he was a good actor. I didn't like that fact that he was a total drunk and wouldn't listen to them, then one scene later he was sober and doing everything he could to help. His transition felt rushed.
The Ending. Where the hell did those dogs come from? That felt very rushed. I would have liked a little more background. Maybe someone mentioning it earlier like "Watch out at the end, after x amount of time they release the beast things" Then the whole berry thing was a little lame. It's been 74 years running and they have never run into this issue before? The dual suicide? I find it hard to believe that this all powerful regime is going to change things to stop a revolt.
The Revolt. That's what it took? 74 years of sending 2 people down to get killed, knowing they will die, then when she is on a mission that she is lighting fires and using herself as bait she dies, and that is what it took for the district to fight back? They knew she was dead as soon as she left, just like the other 146 people before her. You figure this would have happened before that, 12 districts, 2 people, 74 years, so you are saying all these people sat through 1776 people dying over generations, but this is what caused an uprising? Costumes. I actually liked the costumes. It showed a good contrast between the rich and the poor. Very eye-catching and showed that they were all rich. I also liked the shape of the beard; it was very unique and helped the believability by showing that this wasn't earth or at least the earth that we know, so it makes sense that there are a lot of things that are different. Wait a second... I just read the IMDb and noticed that this is supposed to be North America in the not-so-distant future... I'm sorry but there is no way this is the not so distant future.
All in all. I think it was way over-hyped, but I never saw twilight and that made a ton of money and I am told was even more hyped and even worse. At least the acting in this, for the most part, was tolerable. They didn't have as much overacting as Twilight did (at least from the previews that I saw). I don't regret watching it, but I won't be standing in line to watch it again. At least they didn't make it 3D; I don't think I would have been able to stomach an $18 ticket.