Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence

Engaging film with many nice touches but the way the game was actually played out was puzzlingly at odds with its terms. This was presented as a game of all-against-all lasting for a set time which meant each contestant had to try and kill any other he/she encountered. Or be killed. Yet almost from the start some formed alliances and tracked down others. How in the hell did they think this was going to play out? There had to be mass betrayal. Who could possibly trust whom?

Also...there were many quiet moments in the film after the game began when Catniss seemed to be oblivious to her surroundings...tending a wounded friend, sleeping for two days. Wouldn't a game like this require extreme vigilance? How could anyone possibly relax...even for a minute?

The first hour was a broad parody/condemnation of centralized control and media. Much of this worked in an obvious sort of way. Stanley Tucci's MC was fun as he wildly exaggerated a game show host. The mocking of fashion and design trends also made me laugh.

But focusing our attention on this one girl made the outcome inevitable and took away any real suspense. Did anyone in the audience think she wouldn't survive?

For a better, if far more violent treatment of this same concept see Japan's Battle Royale. This is games-light compared to that.

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