Sadly Does Not Meet Expectations

Rating: 5/10 (24 November 2013)

The Hunger Games borrows a little from the myth of the Minotaur, a little from the short story The Lottery, a little from the Truman Show, a little from Schwartznegger's Running Man, a little from Lord of the Flies. The plot originated in the movie Battle Royale (you might say ripped-off) and the future-Gothic costuming is reminiscent of Dune. It's a wonderful Freudian mix if you can relate to it on an emotional level. Unfortunately you can't. The reason is because the kids play along. Instead of being vulgar and defiant for the camera, they enter the twisted battle on horse-drawn carriages, proud of their beautiful custom-made clothing, their designer taking a bow for the masses. Up against insurmountable odds -asked to do despicable things to both strangers and loved ones - you would expect them to be mooning the camera every chance they get - (which is 24/7) but that might make it a PG movie. So instead they deliver a few touching speeches and jump into the arena. Some of the effects are good, and there is some decent suspense, but these elements are spaced out among the slower moving backdrop.