The Hunger Games *

Set up somewhere far in the future, this movie is yet another satire on the stratification of the world into rich and poor sections. Hunger Games is the annual event organized by the capitol i.e. the riches who control the world. Two residents, one man and one woman  from each of the twelve districts are reaped to take part in this barbaric sport. And they have to fight each other till only one is left. These games were instituted as a retribution of the rebellion by the poor people against the wealthy of the capitol. These games are meant to remind the poor that they are doomed to be poor. Forever.

Although the movie takes off on a damn hot premise but soon collapses given the below-average screenplay, mediocre direction and not-so-impressive portrayals by the cast. The initial phase where the audience needs to be sensitized with the atrocities of these poor districts, fails to connect. The much needed intensity to pull off such a script is missing throughout. The whole portion depicting the preparations to the games comes out to be totally irrelevant and unnecessarily stretches the movie too far.

At the beginning of the games, you again get the thrill and the various possibilities that one anticipates keeps you occupied. But that happens only for a while. This part again fails to engage your attention. Talking about the action sequences, oh wait, there aren't any. The Hunger Games should have been something more intriguing. The only thing you might like in the movie is the way it ends. It exemplifies a great philosophy that the world runs on hope and if you take the hope away, it is bound to collapse.

It also highlights the simple truth that rich are rich because there are poor. The rich cannot let go off them. So summing up, it is a semi-boring satire on the rich-poor divide coupled with an apparent sci-fi dimension. High possibility that you won't like it. Although Karl Marx would have found it interesting!