Two men love the same girl. One guy is strong and stupid, and the other is sensitive and good at hunting animals. The girl might die.

Sound familiar?

The Hunger Games opened Friday with the third-highest grossing opening weekend of all-time. The buzz surrounding the film was surreal. It has everything an unintelligent, giggly teenage girl would want – average special effects, cheesy dialogue, psuedo-hunky male characters and a Twilight-esque love triangle. No wonder it made $155 million in its opening weekend. The absurd depiction of the future, cliche characters and influence from the Twilight Saga makes for a brainless experience and a waste of money.

According to the Hunger Games, the future will be a world with a large gap between the rich and poor where characters are more like caricatures. The wealthy will make millions off people killing each other while the poor will make ends meet by selling goat cheese and trading bread for squirrel pelts. The rich dress like Wyatt Earp or Lady Gaga, and the poor dress like pioneers on the Oregon Trail. Half the world becomes space-aged while the other half lives in the old west. Although the setting has the potential to be intriguing, the film’s dialogue ruins the setting. The wealthy berate the poor with no regard for subtlety. Even the president of the nation says, “I don’t like an underdog.” Although politicians today certainly have agendas, the Hunger Games exaggerates the tyranny of politicians to an unrealistic level.

The melodrama continues in the Hunger Games event. Once the “tributes” are released into the the wild to kill each other off, those who live in the richer districts become best friends and bully the poor like stereotypical high school jocks give swirlies and shove nerds into lockers. The only difference is that they will eventually kill them.

At one point in the film, the elite tributes are seen running after a tribute, giggling and shouting “Ha! You’re going to die!” They’re the same recycled characters that came from the likes of The Breakfast Club and Twilight thrown into a new setting.

Protagonist Katniss Everdeen is on the receiving end of the bullying. Naturally, she’s a strong, independent woman with a tough life and a knack for survival. Boy, is she sassy and scrappy. It’s the same character seen in every other film with a female protagonist.

Even Woody Harrelson’s portrayal of Haymitch was cliche. Ever heard of a rude, drunken father figure with a heart of gold in a film before? Rooster Cogburn from True Grit is the exact same character, but better developed.

But what truly makes this movie awful is its constant parallels to Twilight. Everdeen is essentially a less neurotic version of Bella, doing her best to survive while stringing two guys along at once. Peeta is Jacob, a strong, tactless bufoon who is angered when he doesn’t get what he wants. At least he never took his shirt off in the film. Gale is Edward, a sensitive guy with fluffy hair who is uncomfortable with his girlfriends’ relationship with Mr. Muscles. However, he’s better than most guys of his kind. He only hunts animals.

The Hunger Games is an immature, unoriginal portrayal of a serious situation, and has the gumption to rip off something as cliche as Twilight. If you haven’t seen The Hunger Games, I hope you never have to sit through it. May the odds be ever in your favor.