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“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” takes one of the worst villains in the world of young adult dystopian fiction, and succeeds in making the audience root for and even empathize with him. Through the lens of the progressively irredeemable actions of Coriolanus Snow, the future tyrannical president of Panem, this prequel to the “Hunger Games” saga depicts his role and relationships throughout the 10th annual Hunger Games.

Snow (played by Tom Blyth) is a student in the Capitol and mentor to Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the tribute from District 12. Blyth portrays the character as intense, though ultimately young and naive. This leads to the movie’s “Revenge of the Sith”-like, bright-eyed student-turned-dictator origin story. His emotional connection with Baird leads him to search for inconspicuous ways to aid her in the arena — putting himself in danger as he does so.

Snow and each of his classmates must all mentor a tribute. The goal of the assignment isn’t even to help them win, it’s to market them to everyone watching them compete. Baird’s marketable feature is her singing voice, which she is not keen on selling.

As the pair gets closer, the film gives us a compelling, albeit somewhat underdeveloped, love story. Snow’s priority throughout the mentorship is to gain Baird’s trust, though for mainly selfish reasons. He is caring, but manipulative, and the line between the two is often blurred.

From its conception, the Hunger Games has treated its tributes as expendable — ignoring that they are human, sacrificing morality for entertainment. When this is debated in the film, Snow consistently voices concerning opinions. At first able to make excuses for him in the name of infatuation, the viewer starts to lose that ability as his plots become more destructive, while still being invested in wanting Baird to survive.

Though there is intense pressure on what the people of Panem think about these games, we never see anyone watching them on their TVs. There are a few off-handed reminders that the games are important, but we mostly see the impact of the games only from the misplaced anger of Capitol people.

This is, however, the first time in the history of the games that they have a TV host: Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman (Jason Schwartzman). Schwartzman brings comic relief and a nostalgia factor to fans of the original trilogy, as his performance carries strikingly similar elements to Stanley Tucci’s Caesar Flickerman. This performance provides a much-needed whimsicality in a film that often takes itself too seriously.

The most notable performance comes from Peter Dinklage as Casca Highbottom, the creator of the Hunger Games. Dinklage bends the script that is lacking depth at times to his will. He effectively conveys Highbottom’s drunken, self-loathing character, while also being able to deliver corny lines with enough emotional integrity to keep you engaged in the story. (“Can you hear that, boy? That’s the sound of Snow, falling.”)

This movie is the most visually impressive out of the series. The costumes have vibrant colors in contrast to Panem’s bleak, futuristic grays, and the camera work is consistently well done. Wide lenses were used to make the audience feel closer to the characters, which was particularly effective in forest scenes with Coriolanus Snow.

While an enjoyable watch, this film is certainly not without its flaws. It has several moments where the writing falls flat, most noticeably after the games are over. Audiences have been conditioned to think movies based around the Hunger Games end shortly after the games. Instead of following the format of the rest of the franchise, this prequel tries to squeeze more into the story, resulting in a rushed and lackluster end.

The final act of this movie introduces interesting material only to quickly gloss over it, forcing speedy conclusions about the things that are supposed to impact us most. Not splitting the book into two separate films damages the storytelling instead of helping the pacing.

The biggest strength of this movie lies in its stark difference in point of view compared to the other films. This time we are not following a tribute, we are following a confused and deceitful budding villain. This role, among others, was cast extremely well and gave the movie’s audience a reason to be engaged.

It’s clear many fans still have an appetite for the series, as the movie made more than $100 million worldwide in its opening weekend. The film is far from perfect, but if you have a connection to the series, it’s worth a watch.

Published on November 29, 2023 at 9:04 pm