Do you dream of a world in which children as young as 12 are taken from their families at gunpoint and forced into a fight-to-the-death battle with 23 other teens for the amusement of a nationally televised audience? If so, The Hunger Games is for you! Although this film is marketed toward a young audience of adolescent children, make no mistake. This is a twisted story that the most bloodthirsty sociopath could appreciate.
This movie has it all. A dictatorial president hell-bent on keeping a poverty-stricken population down: Check. A heroic female teenager who manipulates a nation with fake romantic feelings toward her male counterpart: Check. A drunken mentor: Check. Rock star Lenny Kravitz as a leading fashion designer: Check. Ridiculous names, nomenclature and clothing that all become oddly endearing: Check.
The story revolves around a 16-year-old girl named Katniss Everdeen, who is kind of an unlikeable bitch, yet her courage, grit and determination wins over a nation. That is, except for President Coriolanus Snow, who sees her as a threat and her success as a possible means to stir the masses into a potential rebellion. Everdeen volunteers to take part in this bloodbath to save her younger sister, who has the unfortunate luck to have her name picked out of the hat during the selection process.
Realizing 12-year-old Primrose stands no chance of surviving and will, without a doubt, be slaughtered almost immediately if she participates in this madness, Katniss bravely steps up to take her place. She is joined by a skittish boy with an equally ridiculous name, Peeta Mellark, who is a baker and has been harboring secret romantic feelings toward Katniss for years. Of course, like any awkward teen, instead of directly telling Katniss how he feels, he instead decides to spill the beans on national television during what is analogous to this fucked-up event's pregame show.
The pair is mentored by an alcoholic and former winner of the games, Haymitch Abernathy, who initially tells his protégés that they pretty much have a 100 percent chance of dying, but later he sees Katniss's potential and plays a integral role in their fight for survival.
For the uninitiated, everything about this movie leads one to think it will be atrocious. And that is part of the reason why it is so great: the pleasant surprise of its brilliance. The bar is set so low, because you are thinking to yourself, "I am not a 15-year-old girl, so I will absolutely hate this." Then, by the time you realize, "this is absolutely amazing," you are hooked like an heroin addict. And there is good news; once you are done with this primer, there are 3 more movies to come. Get ready to open your wallet, cause The Hunger Games has sucked you in.