Overrated Below Average Stuff

Rating: 5/10 (8 April 2012)

First off, let me start by admitting that I've never read the source materials for this movie; I just watched it with a few friends to kill some boredom so I'll be talking about how good or bad I found THE HUNGER GAMES as a movie, not as an adaptation. And yes, I saw BATTLE ROYALE and while there ARE some similar plot details, I won't rant about how "X is such a copy of Y." I'm fine with similar plots as nothing tends to be original these days.
Prior to watching the movie, I've read reviews online mentioning that this was a great watch. IMDb gave it a score in the range of 7 to 8 on its opening days before settling down at the range of 7.7 when I last checked, which is pretty high. So I went into the cinema not expecting a masterpiece but something entertaining at the least; that's all I wanted. I just wanted to kill a boring weekend.
And kill a boring weekend it did, but that's about all it accomplished. THE HUNGER GAMES may have been a good time waster but it's only a below average movie that got too much hype.
On the good side, THE HUNGER GAMES does manage to have a compelling first half. Prior to the titular "Hunger Games," we get to spend nearly half the movie's running time with the heroine Katniss, who is a good protagonist at that. In a time where story is forgotten in favor of CGI and crappy action, an entire first half devoted to characters is something I more than welcome. This is not bad since we get to spend some time with our heroine and see what's become of society at this point. The setting of the story is also interesting enough to draw some attention; while not the most original in recent memory it still serves its purpose of justifying the injustices going on in the story.
Problem is beyond those, I don't really see how this movie was described as "the best movie of 2012 so far." The camera-work is just bad; at this point in time I'm really sick and tired of "shaky-cam" movies or whatever the hell you call it. I don't want to watch a documentary or some indie cinema crap full of "realism," I want a MOVIE where the camera doesn't look like it's having a seizure every 5 seconds. There was also no tension anywhere in the movie. The premise is enough to convince someone that this would be a thrilling ride at the least but all we get are forced romance scenes and bad "action." The good build-up of the first half (the introduction to the training) was wasted in the titular games since it ended up being more of a drag than a thrill. The only emotions I could get from the characters was either romance or joy in killing. There was no sense of fear or dread or desperation; just a naive sense of good guys and bad guys.
The dialogue is as predictable as one could expect from a young adult story. Most of the lines that are full of profound messages (especially in the climax of the titular games) seem weird coming from Katniss who's supposed to be a teenager. Maybe it's the actress' fault for not delivering them well or maybe it's the script's fault for being too preoccupied with making things deeper than they have to be but either way, most of the lines didn't work. Also the love aspect of the movie wasn't done well; it seemed forced into the story simply because of obligation. Out of the blue a story of survival became a romantic one. The transition could've been done well but like most of the movie, it seemed rushed.
The worst part of the film are the characters. The morality of the story is too black and white to be believable. The people of the Capitol and the contestants who got too into the games are, well, the bad guys. Never do they get justifications for their motives nor do they get any redeeming qualities; all they do is sneer and jeer at the heroes, kill for the fun of it and be a hindrance to the romance. Examples are that girl who just had to have a speech of how fun killing an innocent and peaceful girl was and the exaggerated obliviousness of the Capitol's people that drove this point in. The morality could've been improved to make things more emotional and engaging for the movie but then again, everything was dumbed down for the target audience.
Overall THE HUNGER GAMES is a movie for the young adults bracket of the audiences. It's full of the things that apparently make a movie good these days: shaky-cam, theme song from a famous pop band, romance, young stars, etc. But for everyone else I'd suggest waiting for something else to come out. There's no tension here and everything else seems forced. Maybe if you were a teenager this thing would be as thrilling as advertised. While THE HUNGER GAMES is definitely NOT the worst movie, there are other movies that pulled off the same plot but in a better and more entertaining way.