Let The Games Begin

Rating: 7/10 (12 November 2018)

The movie starts with kids from throughout the country being tallied up and sent to a location to try to kill each other. The Hunger Games are on live TV, like a real life "Survivor." Only one of the 24 teens (two from each of the 12 districts) can survive.
In the poorest, Appalachian-like district, teen Katniss is growing up modestly when her little sister gets chosen at random to be in the annual Hunger Games. Katniss then volunteers to take her sister's place and heads to the Capitol city as a heavy underdog. However, She grew up in the kind of wilderness where the Games take place, and she is handy with a bow and arrow.
As for the plot, the movie has problems: A big development happens because of coincidence (overhears an entirely private conversation), there's an unlikely alliance, an attacker makes the mistake of giving a lengthy speech before finishing off a victim, and the villains are not impressive.
Fans of the book will be angered by the lack of development of secondary characters. (I was more annoyed that the primary characters do not come into focus either, despite the long running time.)
Just like the Harry Potter movies, however, this one is just a sellout, like most movie series nowadays.
Rating: 3.6/5