Absurd Movie

Rating: 1/10 (11 August 2012)

This is my first review, and I felt absolutely compelled to write it because the current score on this movie is way too high. It may be important for you to know that I never read the books.
I pride myself in being able to pinpoint bad movies just by watching the trailer. I avoided The Hunger Games in the theaters for this very reason. But recently, a friend of mine recommended the movie after he had watched it at home. This friend has recommended some fantastic movies over the years, so I gave it a shot - especially after seeing a decent review on IMDb. Well, this is the first time he let me down.
It didn't take long into watching it for me to realize that the Hunger Games is a movie aimed specifically at teenagers. It has that recognizable kind of plastic coating on it, with casting akin to daytime TV. You know, the one where the actors spend absolutely no effort in attempting to look their part. The teenagers look like they all come from elite genetic stock with premium health care, yet they are playing the role of a person living in the slums...
The protagonist comes from an impoverished family in a dystopian future, who is apparently a skilled hunter, with a dead-eye aim with a bow, and frequents the wilderness to exploit these talents. Somehow she does all of this and maintains her perfect complexion. And she has not a single convincing mannerism to suggest that she actually does what the story says. Her personality doesn't mesh with her harsh upbringing.
And then the movie shows us the easily despised upper class. They have loud, gaudy fashion sense, and the repulsiveness of their snobby attitudes is magnified by their bad physical features. This is a future where good genetics have conveniently sunk to the bottom of the social hierarchy. These unquestionably bad people want to kill off the healthy, modest, good-looking and socially aware lower class teens. We, the mindless viewers, can easily detest this obvious role-reversal - I mean tragedy!
Aside for some desensitized killings, the games play out like a day in a prestigious high school campus, complete with cliques and that first romance. The 'cool group' even affords a prissy girl to accompany the jock character.
The real story becomes nothing more than a petty backdrop and farce. There is little to suggest the actual hardship of living out in the woods for weeks, or the psychological affects of living in a battleground and having to kill other human beings or even think about killing other human beings. It's convenient that the cliques never have to battle amongst themselves - they are instead killed off in a crossfire. Also convenient is a sudden rule change to allow the two lovers to not have to deal with a potentially ghastly scenario.
So in summation, it was of the quality level of a day-time TV drama for teens that was stretched out for cinema. It was a complete waste of time, and had no intellectual value.