Review of The Hunger Games (2012) by Sesostris — 04 Apr 2012

Angels: I have not read the book. Also, I am an old dude who likes all kinds of movies-including movies with well constructed scenes of realistic violence...So, I went to this movie with high expectations. Unfortunately, for me, and I should have realized this from the ratings, the violence was sanitized so as to be suitable for high schoolers, with a low tolerance for violence. It is a great story, and the young actors did a fine job. Katniss was appealing, and believable as a 'tough enough" heroine (though not an ass-kicking one.) However, I found that the pace of the movie flagged in places, and there was an implausibility factor at a detail level. (I know it is basically implausible to imagine a society sacrificing children, but I got over that hurdle easily enough.) What I did not understand is why there were not any(?) desperate nihilistic young characters. (I grew up in a big city, and I came across quite a few. And judging from the crime in rural areas there are quite a few there too.) But why did the young tributes cooperate so meekly with the murderous theatre. I know some of the kids I grew up with would have tried to kill/assault their tormentors at the capitol. Does this happen in the next book/movie? Anyway, the movie was entertaining enough. And to put this movie in perspective, my son, who is college age, and sophisticated about movies, really enjoyed this one.

Glow brightly Angels.