The wait is over: The Hunger Games comes out next Friday... and I think the movie is just OK. In fact, I was reminded of the first film I ever reviewed for Screen International, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Objectively, I knew that Goblet of Fire was "engrossing" and "well made," but I was kinda, y'know, bored watching it. It was big and spectacular and expensive-looking and just not all that involving. The Hunger Games is the same way: There's a lot of stuff in it that I liked, but there's also a lot of stuff in it that I didn't like -- and there's also a lot of stuff in it that I didn't feel one way or the other about. So, yes, I'd say The Hunger Games is a solid "OK." (Or, as Todd McCarthy calls it, a "good-enough" film.) I reviewed the film, appropriately enough, for Screen International.
