In a world much like our own, something bad happened about 74 years ago and now the most popular reality show in the world has 24 people between the ages of 12 and 18 killing each other. It seems that this contest, called The Hunger Games, is supposed to keep the 12 Districts in line. We only get a real look at District 12, where our hero Kitniss lives. It’s pretty much an 18th century coal mining town, complete with poor white people who dress like the Amish.
The Hunger Games was a good movie with a quick pace and a lot of action. The story is both interesting and kind of baffling. The action is intense and you can’t help but wonder what you might do if thrown into this insane situation. On the other hand, how is this yearly culling of two people from each District supposed to keep civil war at bay?
The Running Man and The Tenth Victim both used rather nasty people as the players, but The Hunger Games chooses the path of innocent youth forced to commit murder. One of the more fascinating bits is how eagerly many of the Tributes, as the kids are called, embrace the fine art of slaughter. These are not nice kids.
The rich people who live in The Capitol all dress like the rich people in the Emerald City with a hint of the rich people from The Fifth Element. While our sacrificial lambs are being cleaned up for their first public appearances, I could almost hear someone singing a Snip snip here, and a Snip snip there in the background.
But these are really minor gripes, The Hunger Games was fun and there were a couple of good scary moments and a few good sad moments. The acting was solid, the sets and costumes were good, and who doesn’t love watching people kill each other for no good reason at all?
