Kyle Amato started his review out by asking, “What reason
was there for a new Hunger Games film? Nostalgia for a decade ago, when YA
reigned supreme just as Marvel was rising to power? A last-ditch attempt to
wring some money out of a known property? The greatest question of all: why is
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes actually good? Why did
they make a real movie for no reason? No one needed this to be a gripping,
bleak drama about a young man coming to understand how the world works, a young
man opportunistic in a way that always seems to leave people dead. But, for
some reason, the Hunger Games prequel is possibly better than the original film
series, with strong performances from relative newcomers Tom Blyth, Rachel
Zegler and Josh Andrés Rivera. I’m as surprised as you are!”
Sixty-four years before Katniss volunteers as tribute,
Coriolanus Snow, played by Tom Blyth, is an ambitious teenager wanting to
restore his family’s fortune and power after a devastating war. While he lives
in his rundown family manor with his grandmother (Fionnula Flanagan) and cousin
Tigris (Hunter Schafer), he hides his difficulties at the academy from his
richer friends. His deceased father would always say, “Snow lands on top,” and
he wants to make good on that thought. The 10th Hunger Games are
coming up quick, and with ratings falling, the head gamemaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul,
played by Viola Davis, enjoying herself, has thought of a new threat. The top
of the class will be advisors to this year’s tributes, and the winner will receive
a huge cash prize. Coriolanus is assigned to a traveling musician named Lucy
Gray Baird, played by Rachel Zegler, a fierce performer apparently set to die
in the arena. Fortunately, Coriolanus has a few flans to help Lucy Gray
survive, but he might make a few enemies while doing that.
Evidently having learned from the mistake of making “Mockingjay”
two parts, director Francis Lawrence decides to give everyone the full story
here at a nearly three-hour runtime, which is something of rare limitation in
cinema. Amato said, “The Hunger Games wrap up with an entire hour to go, giving
the film an extended grim climax that really makes the entire endeavor make
sense. Though Songbirds & Snakes has some familiar YA trappings, the
inevitability of Snow’s descent into his future as a murderous dictator
naturally colors the action. While I have nothing against Katniss’s fight to
remain a person while becoming the face of a revolution, watching a bisexual
lunatic scheme his way through a corrupt system is inherently more interesting.”
Blyth is the standout, taking a very internal
character and writing his war between cruelty and compassion all in his expressions.
Amato noted, “Though Zegler has an incredible voice and stage presence, Lucy Gray
Baird is more of a concept than a full-fledged character, but she shows that
hope is not lost even if the actual revolution is decades away. he’s asked to
do a lot, and she accomplishes it all. Peter Dinklage and Viola Davis are
opposite sides of the reality spectrum, Dinklage embodying the miserable
reality of Panem and Davis playing up the Frankenstein surreality of the
richest of the rich.” Also, we get Jason Schwartzman as a crooked weatherman
who is hosting the Games, taking up the role from Stanley Tucci in the original
films. Amato mentioned, “The cast never feels low-rent in a way you’d expect
from a standard franchise revival.”
Few prequels defend their creation, but this film makes
the case well. Not only do we get to see the early version of the dangerous
games Katniss must go through, we get to understand the suspicion behind their
creation. While the Games felt like an evil reality to overcome for Katniss,
Coriolanus sees them as flawed and useful, helping stitch them into the fabric
of Capitol life. Amato said, “There’s an eeriness to the film, denying
catharsis except from your memories of a film that came out eight years ago.
Even that might be tough, as pretty much everyone I know dropped off after
Mockingjay Part One.” “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” deserves to do
well, a cruel surprise for a satisfied audience.
I had been wanting to watch this prequel for a while.
I didn’t see it in the theaters, and now I think I should have. The only
problem I see is that this is nearly three hours long. I don’t know if I would
have been able to sit in the theater for that long. Then again, I sat through
the entirety of “Avengers: Endgame” in the theaters. Maybe the lockdown made me
lazy, and I need to see films in parts now, but I have seen it now, and I’m happy.
If you’re a fan of the franchise, you should see this on Roku. This is a good
prequel, one of the few good ones, and I think everyone will enjoy it. If you can’t
sit through the movie in one sitting, then you can watch it in parts, like I did.
Thank you for joining in on this review tonight. Stay
tuned tomorrow for the next review in “Disney Month 2025.”
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