The Turkey of Panem - The Starving Games

It was bound to happen. After the infamous directing duo Jason Friedberg and Aaron Steltzer (Date Movie) already made fun of the popular Twilight series with Beilight - Bi(s)s zum Abendbrot, now The Tribute of Panem has to take its turn. In The Turkey of Panem, the two send young Kantmiss Evershot (Maiara Walsh) into the Starving Games hosted by evil President Snowball (Diedrich Bader). Winning here would bring her family much needed food and her much desired fame. To that end, Kantmiss then enjoys killing her opponents on camera or making out with her District 12 colleague Peter (Cody Allen Christian). But is that really enough to win these games? And why do any superheroes, sorcerer's apprentices, or country singers suddenly show up in the arena? Is their talent for archery enough for Kantmiss to make it through this mess alive?

If you've ever seen a film by Friedberg and Steltzer, you know what's on offer here. Poor acting, as many fart-, diarrhea- and full-on-the-nuts gags as possible as well as the completely pointless placement of references to other films or various short-term pop culture phenomena, such as Korea's hit export Psy. The fact that it's just not funny when bad Expendables doubles show up or Kantmiss shoots the main character from The Fantastic World of Oz with one of her arrows doesn't matter at all. The sledgehammer is used here to dish out what it can. It may be that there are still people who find this kind of humor funny. And they can be forgiven for laughing at unimaginative gags like a silly Avatar parody. But viewed objectively, a film like this is simply poorly crafted and deeply annoying.

Annoying because a film like The Tribute to Panem in particular could have offered potential for a much cleverer and funnier parody. In the approach that is even evident here from time to time, for example when it comes to the sponsors of the Starving Games. But whenever there's a good laugh in the chaotic action, it's immediately ruined by the next fecal joke. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Steltzer still don't seem to have grasped that good spoof comedy isn't just about showing the audience something they know and punctuating it with funny fart noises.

Since movies like The Turkey of Panem can be produced quickly and cheaply, which by the way can be clearly seen in the machination, humorous low-flyers like this one will unfortunately always continue to exist as long as there is still money to be made with them at the box office. Who could laugh heartily about Beilight - Bi(s)s zum Abendbrot or about My Wife, the Spartans and I, will surely have fun with The Turkey of Panem. But for those who find humor not only in the digestive tract, but also in the head, should give this film a wide berth. Therefore: really only worth seeing for die-hard Friedberg/Steltzer fans!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp