“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” Review
Starring Rachel Zegler (Left) and Tom Blyth, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” focuses on the earlier days of The Hunger Games with Blyth portraying a younger version of the series’ main villain Coriolanus Snow.
Unless you grew up with the books and their film adaptations, it can be easy to overlook just how much of an impact “The Hunger Games” had on popular culture. After the original trilogy of novels were released, it seemed like every young adult series of novels had to be dystopian and, by the time the films were released, the world of “The Hunger Games” was becoming as popular with young readers as the worlds of “Harry Potter” or “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”. When the films were released, they not only were box office sensations but also cemented Jennifer Lawrence as an icon following her Oscar win for “Silver Linings Playbook”.
I was one of the many fans who loved the books and films but I became a bit distant from the series following the release of the two-part adaptation of the final novel “Mockingjay”. Despite enjoying these films, I felt manipulated by them because “Mockingjay”, a novel that was 390 pages, did not need to be made into two films. It was clearly obvious that the studio was trying to jump on the bandwagon of turning the final entry of a series into two films like “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” and “Twilight: Breaking Dawn”. But those films had reasons to be two-parters. “The Deathly Hallows” was over 600 pages long and was wrapping up a series of seven novels and the “Twilight” books and films are a form of torture that people like to extend as much as possible. Even Francis Lawrence, the director of every “Hunger Games” film with the exception of the first, admitted that he probably shouldn’t have extended “Mockingjay”.
Despite a flawed approach to wrapping up the series, “The Hunger Games” film series ended on a pretty satisfying note so it was very surprising when author Suzanne Collins caught us all off guard with the release of her prequel novel “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”. But since the book was released in May 2020 during the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s understandable why it snuck up on everyone and, as its popularity grew, readers wondered when a film adaptation would be made. Now, three years later, this prequel film has arrived and, despite some flaws within its narrative structure, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” is an engaging origin story with a unique perspective and manages to stand apart from the previous four films while being a satisfying entry in the franchise.
As fans of the series will know, the world of “The Hunger Games” is set in a dystopian North America now called Panem which is split into 13 districts that provide certain resources to the rest of the nation with a tyrannical Capitol ruling over them. After a rebellion by the districts that saw all of them defeated with District 13 being obliterated, the Capitol created a unique punishment called The Hunger Games where two children, between the ages of 12 and 18, would be selected from each district to fight to the death in a televised spectacle. Set 64 years before the first film, this prequel explores the life of a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), who would become the devious leader of Panem in the main series, as he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a tribute from District 12 who has been chosen for the tenth annual Hunger Games. As he grows closer to his tribute and the games become more bloodthirsty and spectacular, Snow must choose which is more important to him: his heart or his ambition.
Ultimately, what attracted me to this film was the general idea. Telling a “Hunger Games” prequel with Snow as a protagonist is an interesting idea. After all, Donald Sutherland brought such a nefarious cruelty to his performance in “The Hunger Games” and made him such an intelligent yet unsympathetic character. So to make this man your main character is a bold choice. Tom Blyth gives a terrific performance as Coriolanus Snow and, as the film progresses, you really understand what made him the way he was. Despite having a noble name, he’s had to struggle for everything his whole life while constantly having to defend himself from enemies. This combination of ambition and jadedness is dangerous yet Blyth manages to find the humanity in it before slowly squeezing it out.
Also impressive is Rachel Zegler who continues to establish herself as an incredible rising talent. Not only is she tenacious as a tribute selected for death but the relationship she establishes with Snow is fascinating because, despite the differences of class, the ways in which they are alike make them a powerful force to be reckoned with. Also, after seeing Zegler blow my mind as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s remake of “West Side Story” (which I think is better than the original), I was so happy to see that Lucy Gray is a singer/songwriter in District 12 and the songs she sings are fantastic.
The main doomed relationship between Snow and Lucy Gray Baird is quite captivating and the overall idea of having the film’s protagonist becoming a villain makes for an interesting watch.
Along with a great supporting cast of big names like Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzmann, Hunter Schafer and Jose Andrés Rivera, there’s no shortage of interesting characters that prove to be just as dynamic as the characters of the main “Hunger Games” films. However, the most interesting element of the film is the environment. Unlike the Panem we saw in the main series, which felt scientifically advanced with high-powered weapons and vehicles, this world feels more stripped back not only because of the film’s nature as a prequel but also because the costly rebellion is still recent history.
Throughout the film, we see not only how Snow becomes the person we all know but how the games themselves become the big spectacle we were introduced to back in 2012 with the release of the first film. Unlike the Hunger Games we know, where the competitions last for days and have elaborate arenas and a variety of threats, these games feel like sloppy gladiator matches with the slaughter usually ending in a matter of hours. With Snow driven to give Lucy Gray a chance in the arena, he suggests many changes to the games that become staples in the main series. The idea of having so many elements of a horrifying event be created out of a sense of caring is endlessly dark and twisted and this prequel does not pull any punches, especially in its violence. When the games do happen, seeing these kids trying to kill each other is horrifying and captures the brutality of the first film where the theme of the series was survival before it became about rebellion and hope.
Despite parallels and nods to the original series, what I enjoy about “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” is how separate the film feels compared to the main series. This film doesn’t try to rely on our knowledge of the four films that came before or make obvious references to what’s to come 64 years later. Also, unlike “Fantastic Beast” series, a presumably unfinished series of five films (only three of which have been made), this film knows to be a self-contained story. We don’t need seven films to explain why Snow crosses the line into evil. This story is enough.
While it’s clear that “Mockingjay” didn’t need to be two films, “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” doesn’t need to be two hours and 37 minutes either. The film certainly covers a lot of ground but there is momentum lost in the final act with Snow’s slow turn into a villain and the inevitable disintegration of his relationship with Lucy Gray. It’s like the film spends so much time creating suspense with the games and then, when they’re finished, there’s still a lot more story left and the film has to rebuild that tension.
With so many franchises trying to have spin-offs, prequels and other ways to continue building upon previously existing worlds, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” gives an interesting perspective on the history of its series and doesn’t try to be anything more than a good film. If this is to be the only “Hunger Games” spinoff, then it’s safe to say that this film made the most of it.
