How you feel about this movie and rate it, is in my opinion very depended on the fact whether or not you had seen "Battle Royale" prior to this movie. If you have seen it, you will see this movie as a bit of a lesser version of basically the same concept but if you haven't, you'll probably be taken by this movie and it's daring and unusual concept.
Personally, I had seen "Battle Royale" and it's actually one of my favorite movies as well. So no, I'm not overpraising this movie for its originality but I also had some more general problems with it as well, which prevented me from seeing this movie as an absolutely perfect, or a must-see- for everyone.
Nothing wrong with its concept or overall story really but the storytelling was still a bit lacking at times. It doesn't always have a right balance of action, social commentary or drama in it, to make an effective enough impact with any of it. The first half of the movie is actually quite slow once you start thinking back about it and it takes a bit too long with its buildup. You could all 'blame' this really on the fact that this movie got based on a popular novel, by Suzanne Collins. Certain storytelling techniques make this apparent and it are little things like this that cause the movie too slow down a bit too much at times.
But obviously it didn't bother me all too much, since I still could enjoy the movie. I never really saw this movie as a deep or provoking one but it was one that was very entertaining to watch. It's a real good thing that lots of money get pumped into this movie, since it truly lifts it to greater heights. It uses good looking special effects (it's also a science-fiction movie after all) and some spectacular action.
You might be surprised at how violent this movie can be to watch at times. You might not expect this coming from a movie that features a couple of teens, as the movie its leads but that's actually what the whole movie is all about, with some bit more depth behind it but not all too much really. It doesn't ever delves deep enough into things or explains everything properly. You could complain about this, or you could simply take it and sit back and enjoy the ride, just as I did.
The movie also does a good job at creating a certain atmosphere. It's set in the future but not a too distant future. So basically that means that this isn't really a too futuristic looking movie and is easy to place yourself into. The look and settings do feel a bit odd at times but never in a too overdone or not realistic enough type of way.
It's certainly watchable as entertainment but I wouldn't exactly call it the movie of the year.
7/10
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