Hunger Games 2012 6 out of 10

The Hunger Games  2012   6 out of 10

I found The Hunger Games to be a little underwhelming. I put off seeing it in the theaters because I felt it was a theme that I've seen before in a more exciting format.   I did a  little blog about the movies that came before it that obviously influenced the writter of the book series.   After seeing it I found it too be interesting obviously in it subject , but a little to slow for my tastes.  I can see where it made an interesting book--but I didn't feel like it translated into an exciting movie on screen.   I liked Running Man better....I liked Battle Royale better.....The Hunger Games felt more like a pilot for a TV Series to me slowly developing its characters and taking forever to get to the actual Games and then once it did the Games themselves didn't entertain me as much as I had hoped them to.    There was a lot of hiding in trees and dropping bee hives on people as they ran around Lord of the Flies style in the forest.

Hunger Games---Haven't we seen this movie before??

The Trailer for The Hunger Games is here

The Hunger Games    2012  opens in just a couple of weeks.  I've never read the books, but I feel like I've already seen this movie before...  Everything in Hollywood is derived from something that came before it.  It would be stupid for me to sit here and complain about the lack of new ideas (which I have before).   As long as you improve on or make your version of an old theme better or different enough then it doesn't matter that if it has been done before.   For every remake that I complain about --there is a Tron sequel that I'm first in line for.  At one point I thought that the proper name for myself as a critic would have been The Hypocritical Critic since I would rush out to see a remake of Conan the Barbarian a week after asking why Hollywood was remaking Footloose for a lack of originality.   So ---even though The Hunger Games seems like a movie that has been made over and over again....I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the Hunger of so many fans to see this film.   I'll probably wait until it hits Netflix myself---but I should stop being surprised by cover articles about this film I feel like I've seen before.   The Hunger Games seems like  a mix of The Running Man/ Battle Royale, and several other  people hunting people stories that probably started as far back as the 1932 movie The Most Dangerous Game   8 out of 10  (which itself has been done over and over again in a series of movies -that I will save for another blog)

Here are some films that came before it with similar themes..

Battle Royale  2001  8 out of 10

This bizarre Japanese  film  that  takes a bunch of  high school kids –places them on an Island and makes them kill each other  until only one person is left..  A Battle Royale like the WWE Wrestling event but with your life at stake.  This was a very violent film , but also interesting character moments as you see how the different characters deal with the situation.   I loved this weird movie and twisted film.   

The Trailer for Battle Royale

Speaking of the WWE....The Condemned from 2007 stars  Stone Cold Steve Austin    5  out of 10 .   This was basically the American version of Battle Royale without the interesting character moments.   All brawn and no brain...(well it was produced by the WWE--so what do you expect).  This film was  clearly  influenced  by The Running Man 1987,   which also has criminals competing to the death as part of a televised event.   A theme that is also a big part of The Hunger Games.

The Trailer for the Condemned

Speaking of The Running Man 1987  9 out of 10

Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in this Sci-Fi action movie based on a short story by Steven King that places Arnold on a TV show where criminals are forced to compete as "Hunters"  track them down to kill them as entertainment for a TV audience.  This is so far my favorite of the people hunted for sport as part of a TV show genre.   See I'm not complaining  about The Running Man (because I loved it) since it was an interesting twist of the genre.  With elements of Death Race 2000 as probably one of its influences.

Trailer for The Running Man

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