Arrival in Dystopia

Rating: Null/10 (5 January 2016)

"The Hunger Games" is a cross between Dystopian movies such as "1984" & "Fahrenheit 451" and modern gladiator movies like "Rollerball" & "Running Man". Nothing particularly original, but a good quality addition to the genre. I'm not familiar with the novels or sequels and just review the movie as it is - for it must be able to stand on its own feet, anyway.
What I liked best is Donald Sutherland's performance as President Snow. He never actually does anything evil like a Bond villain would do, you know: press the trigger to drop guys into a pool with sharks and that silly stuff. But when he just explains his philosophy, for example how to keep a small spark of hope contained, or when he reminds Seneca Crane to "be careful", that's more scary than any of that, because it's so disturbing to imagine what he might be up to. And creating this feeling of "nobody will be safe" is just what the Panem society, based on a lottery, is all about. (possible SPOILER #1) When Snow leaves silently in the end, that makes you worry more about what will happen in the second part than any direct threats.
The characterization of Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) is not really smooth. She begins stubborn when she opposes their mentor for the games, totally submits to the show business when she enters the arena with her dress on fire, then she is a bit provocative again with the shot at the apple, then she plays nicely along the rules again for some time, then she gets really mean to win the games, (possible SPOILER #2) finally switches back to 'smile and switch your brain off' mode. People who read the books argue that a lot of inner monologue was lost in the movie and thus her motivation is not clear enough, this explanation sounds likely to me. Still that is not satisfactory for an audience newly introduced by this movie to the Panem world.
What convinced me least was the actual game. Teenagers are picked at random, even 12 year old girls are expected to take part though they usually never handled a bigger weapon than a kitchen knife in their whole lives, and during 4 days of training, the majority of the participants seem to become experts in one or several kinds of martial arts, hitting any target with various weapons? I don't buy that. In all likelihood, there should be many more clumsy beginners who'd miss a table with an arrow from 10 yards distance. Of course, apart from a few skilled voluntary candidates, there is another reason for that surprising skill. The more dangerous the opponents from the other districts are, the more the audience fears for our heroine. We are expected to look forward to her killing them all, and this is where it gets cynical. In the above mentioned "Rollerball" or "Running Man", experienced professionals got ready for battle who knew the risks. "The Hunger Games" is suggesting you can turn average teenage boys or girls into killers without problems (with 2-3 exceptions who become easy victims), and that is a lack of good taste, pardon the pun. Easily, the couple from district 12 is beginning to enjoy the show with their spectacular entry, that costume on fire, submitting to the system, hardly opposing it. The shot at the apple was a childish gesture in that respect. Somewhere in between, the audience begins to wonder if the evil system is not so bad after all. The poverty of the people outside in the districts suddenly seems less important than the glamor of the show. Almost apologetically, Katniss gets an opportunity to cry, after an innocent nice girl was killed; an attempt to make her more sympathetic when it is almost too late. This review may sound a little too negative because I wanted to explain why I enjoyed it mostly, but not completely. I voted 7 of 10.