Rating: 2.5 stars on 5
The Hunger Games. 24 Tributes. One winner. But wait, there’s a twist. Each tribute gets a mentor this time to keep them alive and sour them to victory. This is what set the tone for all the other Hunger Games that followed with Katniss Everdeen emerging as the winner.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is the prequel to the other films and in this film, it is young Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) from District 12 who is chosen to take part in the 10th edition of the Hunger Games. She is a songbird who can swoon people with her voice and it is Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), a handsome 19-year-old military cadet, who is assigned as her mentor. In this prequel, not only does Snow have to contend with the malicious head gamemaker, Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis), but also the school dean Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage) who is gunning for Snow for some reason.
Most of the audience would have seen the other Hunger Games films and they’d immediately connect the fact that is it he who grows up to Donald Sutherland in the other films. This movie revolves around the making of Coriolanus Snow so to speak – what happens to him and Lucy Baird, whether Baird wins the Hunger Games and what makes Snow become the man that he does.
The young Coriolanus Snow in this prequel comes across as a nice person who is much more human and impacted by emotions as compared to the adult Snow. So, how does turn to evil? Ultimately – like in the Hunger Games – it’s about survival and going all out to ensure they land on top, just like snow, as Tom Blyth says in the film.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is a pleasant watch but it doesn’t offer anything extraordinary to the audience. The romance between Baird and Snow really doesn’t take off. Moreover, the character of Snow seems to be conflicting in itself, unable to decide whether he wants to be good or bad. Is he a victim or an opportunist? Director Francis Lawrence has directed The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes based on the 2020 novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. He has divided the film into three acts and the last part has the most impact. There are very few goosebump and standout moments in this film, unfortunately, though the performances, especially by Rachel Zegler, are good. As an aside, this movie is sort of American Idol meets Survivor meets Hunger Games, so the YA audience might enjoy it.