Average At Best

Rating: 5/10 (27 March 2012)

I went to a midnight screening of this movie having not read the books. I consider myself quite the movie critic and to be honest, it takes quite a lot to impress me these days.
I can understand that the books series is a fan favorite and that 50% of the positive reviews on this site will be from avid "fanbois" who can't see passed the fact that this movie is quite average fan fare at best. I'm assuming the other 50% are from either teeny bop teenagers who don't know any better or adults that probably don't have triple digit IQ's.
So I went into the midnight screening, blank slate, hoping to be wowed. I'll start by saying this - The first 1/3 - 1/2 of the movie, actually had me hooked for a little bit. Not knowing the background story of the world, I initially found myself craving more information about the plight of the people of district 12. Then after looking at the well rounded figured of the actress that plays Katniss.. I found myself thinking "Hang on.. She doesn't look hungry at all.."...
The movie for me went downhill after the actual games start. This isn't because the movie shows not one drop of blood spilled or a death scene.. It was just because it was done so poorly. Shaky camera angles a good action scene do not make. I hate to point out the obvious comparison between this movie and Battle Royale, but come on... It's pretty much the exact same concept, except this is like the poor under aged mans Battle Royale.
There is literally no character development for any of the other tributes apart from Peeta and Katniss, and their love story seems forced and awkward. Are we supposed to like Peeta? He just comes off as a hopeless whining ****.
Oh well.. Nothing I can say can change the fact that you've probably seen/or will see this movie. Here's hoping for the sequel they actually capture some of this magic these "best selling" books are supposed to have.