The Hunger Games

***spoiler alert***

Let me just get that out of the way now. I wont drop too many and certainly none that would ruin the movie for you but I know how crazy the world is for this movie right now. So I thought I'd give a fair warning to those die hards that have been looking forward to this movie like it's a Whataburger at 2:30 on a Saturday night.

Anyway, this review is going to sound like I hated the movie but in actuality I liked it. I knew there was A LOT of hype over the books and the movie and all along I was not looking forward to it because I have seen Battle Royale and The Running Man already. And they both had the common decency to be rated R. If you're going to have kids killing kids, you may as well show the blood. But I went in with an open mind because it is based off of Young Adult novels and they have to give kids the chance to see their replacement of Harry Potter. And everything these days steals something from the past anyway so whatever.  But I will say this, if you did not read the books, make sure you talk to someone who has so they can give you a general outline of the story. Because the movie just jumps right in and kind of glosses over the fact that the haves totally punked the have nots when they tried to revolt because they were hungry. So to help keep the have nots under control the District stages this annual event where they take one boy and one girl from each of the 12 districts and have them fight to the death on national tv. There's only one winner, you get mentors, and people can pledge money to help you out. I wont insult your intelligence, by word of mouth alone, I am sure you know the story. Kind of a nice indictment on society and our obsession with reality tv. blah blah blah

Jennifer Lawrence is terrific in it, just as she was in Winters Bone (another great Bond name). As a matter of fact, she carries the movie. If she weren't cast as Katniss this would probably be unwatchable. She owns every scene and seeing as how she's in almost everyone of them, that's key. The pacing of the movie makes you completely forget that its 140 minutes long, yes 140 minutes. So for that I give Gary Ross credit, however that's where it ends. He is not a sci fi director at all. I would have loved to have seen Andrew Niccol (Gattaca) or Ridley Scott (he's been a little busy lately though, see Prometheus) get a shot at this. Too much shaky cam and some bad fx. The evil dogs or wolves or whatever they were supposed to be at the end were just laughable. And for some reason the movie turns into Twilight at the end, complete with a love triangle. Wes Bentley was a complete waste as Crane. Your lame character from American Beauty where you gush over a paper cup whirling in the wind doesn't work here scrub. Sam Rockwell would've killed this role and actually added something to this character. And we all know why Lenny Kravitz was cast; so that the mom's would have something to look at. But if that's the case, just have dude walk around the entire time shirtless showing off his Lisa Bonet tattoo! I did however like the instant healing cream they used at times. Reminded me of the magical baths they took in Wanted but without the awesome scene where Jolie steps out of the creamy tub (yes I'm aware of how that sounds). Seriously though, where was Lawrence's bath scene? And as long we're stealing ideas from Wanted, why not give her the power to "bend" as well. Her shooting arrows around trees would have added pure freshness to the movie. Anyway, this is getting way too long. The point is despite all of these glaring flaws, the story, the pacing , and Jennifer Lawrence make you overlook these things and you walk out feeling like it was money and time well spent! Plus it's good to see Woody Harrelson getting consistent work. Overall I'd say this movie is slightly Fresh.