The thing about Peeta is...he's not the best. As Josh Hutcherson put it on SNL last night, he's the "brave young hero who immediately gets hurt and has to be carried around for the rest of the movie." Unfortunately, for Hutcherson, any carrying he may have been counting on during his stint as SNL host didn't quite pan out. If he was a middle-of-the-road host, his fellows on stage were no more impressive during this episode, particularly during his first monologue. In some ways, he was the most exciting player in the group during what was, all told, a pretty lackluster episode.
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Maybe it's because The Hunger Games just isn't quite ripe for comedy. There have been some solid parodies on the Internet, but overall, none of the jokes at the series' expense really hit the mark. While Twilight lends itself extremely well to mockery, The Hunger Games' characters aren't really that ridiculous, especially for a YA novel. Certainly, we're not rolling our eyes and groaning at this franchise quite yet.
Hutcherson did have his moments. He never seemed nervous, and he didn't make us feel horribly awkward at any point — more than can be said for a lot of hosts. Probably the best bit featured a group of subversive subway dancers called Matchbox 3. Reasonably funny, and honestly, he looks really good in a tracksuit.
So, overall, A+ for strong jawline, tracksuit-wearing capabilities, and effort. B- for actual hilarity. Or, are we being too harsh on dear Josh? What do you think?
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