The Hunger Games lacking a touch of suspense...

I recently watched the film not having read the books but I had heard about it from people reading it and it didn't live up to my expectations...

Based on the books "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins, it tells the tale of a sort of a "science-fictiony", futuristic human society called Panem, It is divided into 12 districts and a Capitol. There is an event that takes place every year in this society which involves the selection of two members, a girl and a boy, of each district aged between the ages of 12 and 17 to fight to the death until there is only one survivor, this survivor is then rewarded handsomely and can return home. There is an interesting system for the selection of the participants, each person aged between 12 and 17 have their name submitted once unless you've agreed to have multiple submissions in exchange for food, supplies, etc... This ridiculous and horrible event is the result of a revolution that happened a long time ago which involved a rebellion of all the districts, The whole event is televised and the people of Panem are required to watch it and support their district participants, it is entertainment though it is still considered to be a retribution for the rebellion. We follow a girl named Katniss who is 16 years old and who volunteers herself when her little sister, who has only just turned 12, is picked as a participant. She and her district 12 partner are faced against better trained and ruthless competitors. The film is an action, drama, thriller, sci-fi directed by Gary Ross. Now, from what I was told about the film and read up about myself was that it was a book full of suspense and excitement but I found that the film did not portray much of these elements. I found that the pace of the film was a little too slow and it was way too predictable even to someone who hadn't read the books. The director had all the elements needed to make a film full of suspense but he didn't exploit this to its fullest at all! Some scenes could have been made so that we were aching to find out what was just about to happen next but this feeling never arose. The only moment that actually made me feel any kind of feeling was when the bizarre dog creature jumped out of the bushes and even that was too predictable! And of course, we all knew who the winners were going to be from the start, it's a classic "anti-heros become the heros" film, Katniss and Peeta (the other district 12 participant) seemed so clueless and unprepared for the event and yet they manage to win. Anyway, this post is starting to become rather long so I'll conclude with my ratings.

Enjoyability: 6.5/10
Originality: 8.5/10