With the extreme popularity of “The Hunger Games” spearheading a new-ish trend of young adult fiction about teenagers overthrowing oppressive governments, it was only a matter of time before “The Giver” (which predates much of those other novels by several years) got a film adaptation of its own.

Unfortunately for anyone who read and enjoyed the novel in their adolescence, the film version is pedestrian and never colors outside the lines, which ultimately makes it feel like the studio dusted off film rights it purchased years ago in order to cash in on something fashionable.

Oddly enough, when compared to the dystopian futures of other popular stories about teen resistances, the world of “The Giver” doesn’t seem so bad. Everyone lives in one of those fancy modern houses you see on HGTV and goes through life relatively free of any pain or suffering of any kind, with their role in society determined at a ceremony when they turn 12.

Of course, the elders who run the place are hiding the truth about the world from everyone, as our protagonist Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) finds out when he’s chosen to be the new “receiver of memory.” His job is to hang out with the old receiver (Jeff Bridges) every day and be the only person in the community with memories of love, hate, war and elephants. As he learns more about the emotional and informational suppression of his community, Jonas naturally does the whole song and dance about rebellion like characters in these stories always do.

The visual style of the film is sort of a letdown. The novel may not have given the designers a ton to work with, but most scenes either take place in some sterile, vaguely futuristic room or idyllic parks. The old house on the edge of the world that Bridges lives in (which houses all artifacts of former human culture, such as books and a piano) is the only remotely interesting set, which isn’t ideal for a movie about a dystopian utopia.

To its credit, the film’s one neat trick is the slow introduction of color. A significant portion of the movie is in black and white, due to every character besides Jonas being genetically modified to not see color. Once Jonas learns to “see beyond,” as they say, the film’s color palette slowly becomes more vibrant, which isn’t especially unique, but does give it a little bit of visual flavor.

The acting in “The Giver” is adequate enough, but it probably won’t be Thwaites’ big Hollywood break. He’s totally okay, but he doesn’t do much to make such an archetypical character more interesting. Bridges is as effective in his role as always, and Meryl Streep showed up for a week’s worth of shooting to play the villainous chief elder with the skill she usually exhibits.

Also of note is an inexplicable appearance by Taylor Swift, who utters a few lines in the middle of the story, never to be seen or heard from again. It’s not good or bad, it’s just strange to cast her in such a minor role, considering she may be more popular with the film’s audience than anyone else in the cast.

There’s nothing offensive about “The Giver,” but the film adaptation ironically feels derivative of stories it likely inspired. The story arcs in the most predictable manner possible, and actually feels slightly antiquated because of its seemingly anti-Communist message (which makes sense, given that the novel was written when the collapse of the Soviet Union was a recent memory).

Anyone who feels adolescent nostalgia for the source material should probably see it out of curiosity when it inevitably shows up on Netflix, but they’d be better off watching “The Hunger Games” if they want a better version of this basic story.