Jennifer Lawrence channels her inner teenage angst and wanders through a lovely wooded area looking for a stream. Whilst she is doing this 23 other teenagers are busy trying to kill one another. All of this is overseen by a very shifty looking Donald Sutherland who loves a little bit of underage mass murder, frankly who doesn't. Woody Harrelson pops up aswell to have himself a whisky and act the tit. I won't go much further into it as it ruins the storyline a tad so thats all your getting there.
Right, few things to address here. Firstly it is a great story. I finished reading the book about 5 hours before watching the film. This unfortunately did sour the film for me slightly as the book is outstanding. This doesn't 100% translate into the film. As with any adaptation they have to cut bits out and for the most part the bits they cut were sensible and did not detract from the story. However due to it needing to be feature length it felt ever so slightly rushed. Secondly the book is really quite violent, especially for a book that is meant to be aimed at a young(ish) audience. The film, due to the 12A rating, cuts out pretty much all violence with it occurring mostly off camera, which in itself doesn't bother me but the nature of the film kinda needs the action to be more gritty I mean its kids disembowling one another for christs sake. Thirdly, and for me most important, it is pretty much a watered down Battle Royale. For those who don't know Battle Royale is a japanese film that is in essence this story, obviously there are some differences and as I say the book and story are brilliant but in a pure film sense it just felt like a tame version of the Japanese film. Despite all its misgivings it is a good film. The acting is great, Jennifer Lawrence is easy on the eyes, yes I am aware she is supposed to be 16 but she isnt in real life so back off yeh, it looks beautiful and I did enjoy myself. Well worth a watch but you really do need to choose between the book and the film as either will ruin the other.
Verdict: 3.5/5
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