The Hunger Games were a big highlight of my early post-college years. I remember sitting in packed theaters for all of these movies. I must admit, I have not read any of the books, but I am a fan of the film series. I’ve revisited these before seeing the prequel movie, and while some things don’t quite hold up, it’s still a series where I enjoy the journey & the ending. Following suit with other major IPs, there is always a want for more in either a prequel or sequel. In this case, we’re getting a prequel but it’s one I’m not sure was needed & it’s not the prequel I was hoping for.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place during the 10th Hunger Games. The stakeholders of maintaining the games are in a panic as they fear the need for them is gone but they want to keep them going. This story primarily follows Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) as he is in pursuit of a university scholarship that would help restore his family’s honor and status in the Capital. Dean Highbottom (Peter Dinklage) has other plans where he takes the top students and assigns them a tribute to mentor for the upcoming Hunger Games.
This part of the story is what excited me the most. It’s the first time where a tribute has a mentor and we can see the early ideas that become staples in the future Hunger Games. The main one is that the tributes must become spectacles to attract the viewers & keep everyone wanting to watch The Hunger Games. This leads to donors, those providing money to back a victor with items to help them survive. Snow is paired with Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Ziegler) from District 12. This is where parts of the story started to not work for me.
Lucy Gray’s family was part of the nomadic group called the Covey. The presence of her character gave off a southern-esque, gypsy vibe. Lucy Gray was a standout for the colorful dresses she would wear along with her musical talents. I thought Zieglers' performance was fine. I will say there was much more singing than I expected within this & at times it was taking me away from the story. The biggest issue I had was with the chemistry between her & Snow.
Snow & Lucy Gray both have their philosophies & goals which cause them to butt heads a lot, but they do start to develop more of a romantic connection & that’s where things fell off for me. I could never connect with these two after the game ended. Snow is on a mission to find Lucy Gray and the times they spend together come off more awkward for me than anything else. They seem to care for each other but I never felt any real romantic connection between them or that Snow wanted to be with her. And maybe there is more context on that in the book that just wasn’t delivered here.
The two standout performances, for me, were for Dr. Volumnia Gual (Viola Davis) and Lucky Flickerman (Jason Schwartzman). Dr. Gual is the head Gamemaker and overseer of The Hunger Games. She had a cruelty about her that was intriguing & I wish we could have more time with this character & what led them to start the games. Lucky is the first host of the Hunger Games and has some of the best lines in the movie.
Outside of the awkwardness of Snow & Lucy Gray, the pacing of the third act brought this down for me. The first two acts were entertaining and it was great to see how Panem looked at this time + the reactions to the early years of the games. But once we get into the third act things slow down too much to a point where it feels like they didn’t know how to end this one.
Overall, if you are a fan of The Hunger Games series, I do think you’ll enjoy this prequel. For me, I’d much rather visit Panem when the war starts between the Districts & the Capital to lead into the first games. Following the early years of Snow is not one I felt was needed but, as I said, I think many will still enjoy this. Unfortunately, I just didn’t think the odds were in favor of this one. Rating: 3.5/5
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