Reviews

This is a wonderfully funny and original series. If you just step back and look at the concept from a distance, it is so unique, dark, satirical and hilarious that I almost can't help but love it. Think about it like this. You and some other writers are sitting in a room and get a little loose. You all start to come up with ideas for a space adventure that NOONE would ever actually film that would be hilarious if they happened. One guy says "what if the captain and the crew of the space ship were paid actors?" Another guy says "what if the ship were to have a gravity failure that would result in all of the passengers being thrown against the side of the ship and taking it off course so it could not return to earth for like 3 years?" Another writer: "What if some people die and then their coffins get ejected out of the ship and then get stuck in the gravitational pull of the vessel and just keep circling the ship for the entire 3 years?" Another person "What if the sewer system fails and the ship is being circled by feces AND coffins for three years?" Another writer "What if the crazy trillionaire owner were to light up the turds so that the ship were surrounded by a turd light show perpetually?" And on and on. And then some crazy studio head ACTUALLY GREEN LIGHTS IT!!!

I cannot say enough how much of love this series. SO ORIGINAL! SO DARK! God I love it....LOL!

If you are going to make a movie about children being forced to kill each other for the enjoyment of the public, I would think that the tone one would reach for would be something more along the lines of Shindler's List or at least a tone of some satirical value. And you would think that the angst, fear, disgust and overall awfulness for the main characters would be a focal point. You would think the blood lust of the watching masses would form a visceral sense of at least moderate horror that would serve as a backdrop to all of this. And most of all you would think that children, even children raised to expect that they might someday have to enter a tournament like this, would struggle with a conflict between fear, innocence, longing for some sense of decency and trying to sort through the confusion to survive.

It is something of a stretch to imagine a society in which everyone loves seeing children murder each other. That in itself is a plot line the brings a distorted feeling with it. The movie tries to hide that, or at least neglects to even attempt to address that, by layering this movie in and American Idol feeling. There is no sense of outrage. There is hardly a whiff of the sense of all of this in the time we spend with the characters. They are wooden and whitewashed. The most we get in the way of a sense of their overarching dilemma is a few shallow feeling comments and silent looks of stoic concern.

The movie seems to present the material in this fashion to make us forget that we are watching children kill each other. It is as though we are watching running man - only with 8 year olds. Who doesn't want to watch a movie where adorable little boys and girls snap each other necks? Or dogs run them down and eat them alive...?

If a movie like this is to be done it cannot avoid the moral content without seeming shallow and absently depraved. That is this movie. The core is not attempted. It is like red tails meets running man.

I found it absent, vapid and obviously lacking in any real value. It was also a little sick because it didn't even bother for tone whilst presenting the viewer with a mind bending plot.

In short, wooden acting, shallow presentation and not at all smart.

I am not sure how this movie and Pineapple Express are getting the ratings that they are. This movie is ridiculous to the point of total stupidity and then some. There are some funny moments and some funny lines but this movie is so ridiculous that there is not really anything to hold you to the plot.

For example, the main antagonist is maybe 9 years old and the apparent leader of the opposing drug running army. Funny in concept perhaps, but really dumb on screen. If I wanted to watch stand up i wouldn't be at the movie theater. I would like some kind of realistic plot to follow.

Jack Black is kind of stifled in his role, while Ben Stiller seems to be allowed to do whatever he wants. Its like night at the improv.

I think Robert Downey Junior is sort of brilliant, but he isn't used very well and it gets boring due to the crapola splattered ALL over the screen.

Don't go.

I found this film to be fun, humorous and upbeat. It wasn't sappy or feel good. It doesn't look like it was made by Walt Disney and Co. It also is not a film noir like War of the Roses. It is a tongue in cheek look at two people who didn't really give a whole lot of thought to why they got together but they were so into each other they just did it - they got married - and promptly went about ruining it by acting like a typical married couple following their idea of what married people are like. They lied to each other about their real lives and acted domestic. It is revealed fairly quickly that they are both hitters and they go about the process of discovering whether their relationship is based on something real, while at the same time thinking about whether or not to kill each other as their "bosses" demand that they do.

Good acting, obvious chemistry, sexy and humorous fun. I really enjoyed it and all the people at the theater seemed very happy with it as well. If you want an entertaining night without the political intrigue or thoughtful intellect, go to this one. It is worth the money.