Hoping for action? Bit of a disappointment.

Rating: 6/10 (27 March 2012)

I read the Hunger Games for a book group and thought it was a good teen novel, light entertainment for adults and mediocre dystopian literature. I was intrigued by the arena and the future technology employed in the fight to the death, though (I was a fan of The Running Man back in the 80s as well.) So I made the comment the story would work well as an action movie. I was told it was going to be a movie, and now it is.
Alas, as a teen novel it had to be made PG-13 and to keep that rating the children-killing-children aspect had to be toned down. It was handled by jerky, out-of-focus shots of the actual murders, with clear visuals of either the dead bodies or of the splash of blood or sometimes just an eerie scream. Intense for younger children, appropriate for the target audience, somewhat dull for my bloody taste. I went on a bargain evening though, so for $7 I'm actually satisfied.
It's not a cheesy Twilight-like teen romance. The main subject (beyond the story of the central character, Katniss) seems to be the carefully planned violence and tribute "storylines" of the "reality" broadcasts. It not-so-subtly parallels our own viewing habits and personally I enjoyed the irony. A love story does play a small role, about equal to that of the emotional toll on the children being forced to kill-or-be-killed. Worth a viewing if you have any interest.