Bein' judgemental at the movies

I saw The Hunger Games yesterday and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I couldn't help but notice that it's pretty much a textbook example of every annoying movie plot device cliché ever. Let me break it down for you (i.e. here come the spoilers, watch out).

"Sneaky" Exposition
Except it was not sneaky and was in fact so bad that I laughed, which is probably not the appropriate response when Stanley Tucci is telling you about a way in which the protagonist and a bunch of extras may die painfully.

Basically any time a character in a movie utters the phrase "For those of you who don't know..." you know you're about to get some exposition dropped on yo' ass. And it was just so clunkily done here. I get that we've gotta establish this whole other world and there was no convenient way to really introduce it (a la Harry Potter's Muggle upbringing), since all the characters are supposed to have grown up being familiar with it, but that's exactly what makes this so annoying: ALL THE CHARACTERS HAVE GROWN UP WITH THIS. They know what Tracker Jackers are. They don't need it explained to them by Caesar Flickerman, even if (especially if) he prefaces it with, "As many of you know..." If they KNOW it, why would you TELL them? You, sir, are wasting precious Hunger Games screen time!

Also, the fact that they pretty much just broke the fourth wall to do it made it even worse. The line should have been something like, "Hey, you, person who got dragged here by your Hunger-Games-obsessed friend/family member/significant other: here's what you need to know in order for this next part to make sense. Not that you care! Please, resume your 'subtle' texting!" I mean, really.


Refrigerator Logic
For those of you who don't know (gee, doesn't that sound familiar?) "refrigerator logic" is the TV term for plot devices that no one questions as long as they're caught up in the action, but which become obvious after the show is over (and the viewer realizes it while rooting through the fridge for a snack--hence, refrigerator logic). The most glaring example of this was when Katniss is comforting a dying Rue, who asks plaintively, "Did you blow up the food?" Since Katniss did, in fact, just blow up the food, we all kind of go along with it until we realize that a.) Rue and Katniss's plan did not involve blowing up the food, and b.) Rue obviously didn't see Katniss blow up the food, otherwise she wouldn't have had to ask in the first place.

My roommate pointed out that Rue probably heard the explosion, but this is the Hunger Games. They already had a giant rushing wall of fire and there are cannon blasts happening all the time when people bite it, so I don't think Rue would necessarily assume that random loud explosions in the arena were automatically connected to Katniss somehow. So wouldn't Rue have just asked if Katniss had managed to destroy the supplies? Or steal something? That was the original plan, after all. But I guess when you're gasping out your last words, every syllable counts, especially when the scriptwriters seem to believe that the audience is about as smart as a gerbil or something.

McGuffins galore
McGuffins, which are basically events or objects that just sort of happen in order to drive the plot forward, were just popping up in droves here. But the movie kind of turned this on its head by acknowledging that the Hunger Games are basically one big McGuffin machine. You've got a bunch of people (presumably sociopaths) sitting around in a room devising horrible ways to kill children. So if your movie's been a bit slow for awhile, dealing with emotions and all that nonsense, and you want a big action scene, you just write a bit in which your control room people decide to, oh, I don't know, set the forest on fire or conjure mutant dogs out of leaves or something.

Deus Ex Machina
See above, re: sociopaths in the control room. Bam. Done. Instant action-packed plot!

Also, it's not strictly a plot device, but there was a makeover scene in which the female protagonist  gets waxed. This is such a movie makeover staple that someone needs to just make a giant supercut of it a la "Women Falling Down in Romantic Comedies" and throw it on youtube. Swear to God, when Cinna came in and greeted Katniss with "That was the bravest thing I've ever seen" I thought he was talking about her withstanding the hardship of having every hair on her body yanked out by the root. But then he clarified that he was talking about her volunteering as tribute and I was like, "Oh, yeah, that probably makes more sense."

But seriously. Every hair. By the root. And you thought starving to death in a government-operated fight to the death was bad.