Wonders will never cease.

Rating: 7/10 (16 September 2012)

A PG-rated Battle Royale. The Running Man with mood swings and acne. The mere thought of a Hollywood adaptation of the latest novel to grace every teenagers' bookshelf was enough to make me shudder in fear (I've seen Twilight; that was enough for me). How could they possibly make this derivative, undoubtedly tame, and probably sappy nonsense appeal to anyone other than hormonal adolescents? Amazingly, they have.
I've just finished watching The Hunger Games with my 11-year-old daughter (who kindly gave me a running commentary on exactly how the film compares with the book) and was amazed at just how much I enjoyed its grim dystopian vision—a post apocalyptic world where freaky future-folk with crazy multi-coloured hair happily watch a group of kids killing each other with a variety of sharp/pointy things in an arena where genetically altered killer wasps, computer-controlled forest fires, and mutant man-eating dogs also present a very real danger.
With decent direction from Gary Ross, a fine central performance from the rather lovely Jennifer Lawrence (who reminds me of a young Renee Zellweger, which ain't a bad thing), plus memorable supporting turns from Woody Harrelson (so cool), Isabelle Fuhrman (so scary), and Donald Sutherland (so loathsome), I have to admit that the film was a lot more fun than I expected it to be.