A Twilight take on Battle Royale

Rating: 6/10 (6 April 2012)

Well, it seems that everything has been said already. The film and the book it was based on adapted the premise of a great Japanese film/book called Battle Royale, without ever giving it credit for the original idea.
Despite knowing this beforehand, I still went to see the film expecting something decent. I was quite disappointed when I walked out. For a film that was supposed to be all about teen violence, there seemed to be very little violence in the film. The few scenes depicting violence were toned down and lacked gore.
Perhaps good character development could save this, but, sadly, there was hardly any. All the dialogues seemed forced and monotonous. I was hoping to see the characters converse with each other, but all I saw was actors reading their lines. I like feeling emotions during films, but short of sadness of knowing I just spent $20 and wasted 2.5 hours of my life, I can't remember feeling any.
The only memorable scene for me was the return of the film's heroine to her district, however it was for all the wrong reasons. It struck me as odd that the boy who liked her was all smiles, despite seeing his love interest make out with some nerf herder on the big screen.
My advice is to wait until you can rent this for $2, and even then, only if you really want to see it for yourself. Otherwise, buy a nice Blu-Ray of Battle Royale and see how The Hunger Games should have been made.
6/10 (1 point added out of my respect for Woody Harrelson)