The Hunger Games - 3/5 stars

“May the odds be ever in your favour”… It’s the mantra of the Hunger Games, which hit theatres last week with a $155 million bang. But does the movie adaptation of the three-novel set by Suzanne Collins stand up to the hype? I wouldn’t bet on it!

For those who don’t know the premise, it goes something like this: A long time ago Donald Sutherland kicked everyone’s ass and now as punishment, the losing rebels, or “districts”, need to send two teenagers to fight in battle to the death for Donald Sutherland’s amusement. Teens are picked based on how much food they take from Donald Sutherland. Each time they take Donald Sutherland’s food, their name is entered into a lottery form which the tweens, or “tributes”, are chosen. Hence the name: Hunger Games. If John Goodman were in Donald Sutherland’s position, humanity would have ceased to exist, as they would have starved to death many moons ago. As if it’s not bad enough that 50% of the developed world is obese while the rest of it goes hungry, now we’re writing books about how our future will lead to starvation? Africa would kill for this political structure!

As is the case with most popular artistic (and scientific) creations, Hunger Games stands on the shoulders of giants (no, not Donald Sutherland’s shoulders). The concept of adolescents battling to the death isn’t new to literature or cinema. Lord of the Flies, Japan’s incredibly popular Battle Royale, and of course, the Mess Hall at fat camp.

The movie falls into the classic “book movie” trap, where dialogue goes out of its way to explain things that the non-book-reading audience (such as myself) couldn’t possibly know. “He’s our mentor, you know he’s won this thing?” says one character. The mentor role is awkwardly played by Woody Harrelson (Cheers, Zombieland), who in the beginning is a belligerent drunk, but inexplicably transforms into a compassionate teacher as the movie progresses. Now I know what Robin Williams did in preparation for Good Will Hunting.

As for the main characters, they’re acted by a slew of newcomers and up-and-comers. Most notably, Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class’s Mystique) plays the role of the main character Katniss—a self-sacrificing young women who was forced to raise her little sister after her mom went into a despondent Whitney Houston phase. Liam Hemsworth, plays Gale, the strongest and most villainous of the children in the arena. However, he has some catching up to do after his older brother helmed the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, and saved the world as the Norse God of Thunder in Star Trek and Thor respectively. The aforementioned Sutherland and Harrelson round out the A-list star power, and even Lenny Kravitz stops by as the empathetic trainer. Surprisingly, the singer-songwriter shows more heart than most of his more experienced cast-mates.

Overall, the movie falls flat on some fundamental character development lines, and it exploits its audience by introducing some inexcusable plot holes that will undoubtedly view this film through rose coloured glassed. It’s less imaginative than Harry Potter, but more refined than Twilight (thank God!), so if you’re looking for an “in between” movie adaptation from an epic aimed at the minds and hearts of teens, this one’s for you. Either way, the odds are ever in its favour that this franchise will be back for more.