Get a beau with a bow.

Rating: 8/10 (27 March 2012)

In the dark distant future each of 12 districts send a boy and girl to the ultimate TV survivor show to fight it out till the death. Maybe six districts would have been enough as they quickly kill off a few generic participants. Robin Hood era weapons were an interesting choice.
The class warfare in this country is the rich have everything and dress like the cast of Cirque du Soleil and the poor trade everything for food.
Katniss takes the place of her little sister and volunteers for the deadly game. In this open competition there are no weight classes or gender delineations, it's to the death and may the odds always be in your favor.
Good movies manipulate you and you don't even notice. Gary Ross made you think Seabiscuit was an underdog. Ross is a master manipulator and outstanding story teller.
So what if the rules of the game change and two from the same district can survive, until the rules change to "just kidding". So what if the hand of the state production company manipulates the tributes around the arena and arbitrarily adds elements; at least they weren't raptors or other dinosaurs that would have been laughable over the top.
It's a great time at the movies. There are outstanding performances. Jennifer Lawrence is perfect as Katniss. So what if Donald Sutherland is the Donald Sutherland of "Start the Revolution Without Me". Where else will you see Woody Harrelson with floppy blonde hair? See this mega-hit that will spawn a franchise. It empowers women. It works for audiences of all age groups, but the reigned in violence may not be appropriate for younger children. Hopefully our society has advanced enough that life will not imitate art and kids won't hunt kids because they got the idea from the movie.