Week 14: Hunger Games

"Building on her performance as a take-no-prisoners teenager in Winter's Bone, Jennifer Lawrence portrays heroine Katniss Everdeen in Gary Ross's action-oriented adaptation of author-screenwriter Suzanne Collins's young adult bestseller. Set in a dystopian future in which the income gap is greater than ever, 24 underprivileged youth fight to the death every year in a televised spectacle designed to entertain the rich and give the poor enough hope to quell any further unrest--but not too much, warns Panem president Snow (Donald Sutherland), because that would be "dangerous." Hailing from the same mining town, 16-year-olds Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson, The Kids Are All Right) represent District 12 with the help of escort Effie (an unrecognizable Elizabeth Banks) and mentor Haymitch (a scene-stealing Woody Harrelson). At first they're adversaries, but a wary partnership eventually develops, though the rules stipulate that only one contestant can win. For those who haven't read the book, the conclusion is likely to come as a surprise. Before it arrives, Ross (Pleasantville) depicts a society in which the Haves appear to have stepped out of a Dr. Seuss book and the Have-Nots look like refugees from the WPA photographs of Walker Evans. It's an odd mix, made odder still by frenetic fight scenes where it's hard to tell who's doing what to whom. Fortunately, Lawrence and Hutcherson prove a sympathetic match in this crazy, mixed-up combination of Survivor, Lost, and the collected works of George Orwell." --Kathleen C. Fennessy

"I loved the books so I was prepared to be disappointed with the movie. However I really enjoyed the movie and the actors portrayals. Overall I think it was a win. The tone was right, the characters were right. I would happily recommend to friends."

4.75 thrusters and a bow and arrow

"Catnip was cool. Not sure why she would choke and miss on her first arrow when trying to impress the people that give ratings. You would think she’d think better of shooting the apple since she…you know…missed horribly not one minute before. Petey was eh. I imagine the novel is AMAZING. There’s a lot of missed opportunities with the bow and arrow. Maybe required some more plot devices or scenario changes to rule out Catnip just shooting from the bushes. I dunno, when not trying to pick this movie apart it was really good. But seriously…they have a hit TV show where humans fight each other to the death. They can make bear-dogs appear out of thin air. Why don’t they make humans out of thin air, come up with all kinds of story lines and make them duel all the time? Let the districts do their poverty-stricken thing. Why all the emphasis on sponsors? They can air-mail some medication, sure. But their impact on the game isn't huge. Maybe it could be more beneficial to find a way to procure medicinal herbs than spend hours plucking eyebrows and smiling for the aristocrats. I'm sure the people betting against 12 were pissed when they got help the third time. Why make Petey in love with Catnip? It was a plot arch that ultimately didn't really go anywhere. You can make them amenable to each other and Petey has a Roo-Like spear to the chest type thing or something. The drama generated really only enabled Tennessee to lobby for them both to win together. Which was a dead end and caused a rule change to a 74 year old tradition which is way less likely. No benefit added. We weren't really invested in Petey. We saw the same flashback of him twice. That’s it. We were invested in her boy toy back home who got 0 lines or air time after the Games started. Like I said: When not trying to pick this movie apart its really good."

4 clearer, quieter thrusters out of 5

"I didn't enjoy the movie quite as much as when I saw it originally in theatres. We discussed the story at length throughout the movie and talked about the following books afterwards. I like the idea of the first story and I may have enjoyed the book, but now I have absolutely zero interest in the following movies. It’s not a bad movie but I still don’t think it’s all that great."

3 / 5 Thrusters

"Who exactly are we supposed to be rooting for in this movie?  Everyone is horrible and selfish and unlikeable   How is any of this story believable? Why would the kids be motivated to fight?  Why wouldn't the games inspire more rebellions?  Why aren't the people in the main city ok with these horrible games?  The Roman coliseum only worked because the average person was living hand to mouth; these people live in unheard of luxury and have no spare time to ponder how terrible they are? [The image of] Jennifer Lawrence sums up exactly how I feel about the probability of anything like this ever happening. Giving it a 3.0 only because I was thoroughly entertained always waiting for the next explosion in this train wreck."

3 / 5 Thrusters and a nest full of tracker jackers “she’s just sleeping:”

"Katniss is like that guy who is playing a FPS and doesn't quite understand the controls yet, so he just hides behind a box and waits for the round the end. The amount of time we watched her sitting a tree was only matched by the amount of time we watched her crying – which was a lot. Despite going into this movie expecting a Twilight-esque teenage romance story, I ALMOST liked it. It’s a shame that it took 2+ hours to portray a meaningless set up for the rest of the trilogy."

2 / 5 Thrusters and giant Bowlg, or maybe it’s a Dolr -- no no no, I got it… Wearg. Pronounced where-guh.