General Information
Directed by – Francis Lawrence
Written by – Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt
Starring – Tom Blyth (Coriolanus Snow), Rachel Zegler (Lucy Gray Baird), Josh Andres Rivera (Sejanus Plinth), Viola Davis (Dr. Volumnia Gaul), Peter Dinklage (Dean Casca Highbottom), Jason Schwartzman (Lucky Flickerman) and Hunter Schafer (Tigris Snow)
Synopsis – Based on the prequel novel of the same name, ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ takes us back to the world of Panem when 18-year-old future President Snow is a mentor for Lucy Gray ahead of the 10th Annual Hunger Games, which is very different from the Games we know over 60 years later.
Review
Eleven years after the release of ‘The Hunger Games’, Lionsgate has brought us back into the world of Panem. This has caused a resurgence within the fandom, bringing back fan theories, screen grabs being shared, and an overall obsession with the characters. The franchise took the world by storm and Suzanne Collins and Francis Lawrence were able to pull us right back in.
Set 64 years before the first film, ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ follows Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) through his final year at The Academy, including being a mentor for Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), learning more about his potential future with Dr. Gaul (Viola Davis) and a life changing decision by Dean Highbottom (Peter Dinklage) that turns him into the President Snow we are familiar with during Katniss’s story.
The story is formatted into three parts: The Mentor, The Prize and The Peacekeeper. Each is designed for the viewer to learn how Snow developed into the evil dictator of Panem that we learned over the course of four films. There were a lot of questions on why Collins decided to write the next installment from Snow’s perspective when there are so many other characters it would have been interesting to learn more about. Looking from Snow’s perspective, we are able to explore the early days of the Hunger Games and how power and corruption can bring out the evil in anyone.
This film is led by the extraordinary performance of Tom Blyth, playing 18-year-old Snow as he is trying to figure out his future. A star in the making, Blyth dominates the screen with so much emotion and conflict. You never feel bad for him as his true evil comes out in layers but you are drawn to him as a character and it is thanks to how great Blyth’s screen presence is.
By his side giving just as powerful a performance is Rachel Zegler as his tribute from District 12, Lucy Gray Baird. Zegler has proven time and time again that she deserves every role she gets because of what she brings to the screen. As Lucy Gray, all of her strengths are put on display as she can be quirky while also breaking your heart. Zegler is also showing us how much of a range she has with her vocals as she gets the chance to sing outside of her well-known musical theater range. Alongside Blyth, their chemistry radiates with ease and their shared scenes are some of the best in the film.
Blyth and Zegler have a strong supporting cast behind them that elevates the film. Peter Dinklage as Dean Highbottom gives a haunting performance, hiding his secrets from the audience until the final act when all is revealed in a moving monologue. Viola Davis adds to the creepiness that illuminates the games as the current gamemaker. The perfect “mad scientist”, your heart pounds with nervous anticipation of what she will do next. Jason Schwartzman as Lucky Flickerman gives the film some much needed comedic breaks that play perfectly into his personality without taking away too much from the film. Josh Andres Rivera gives so much heart and soul to the role of Sejanus Plinth that it makes you want to root for him anytime he is on screen. Hunter Schafer offers that perfect balance for Snow as his cousin Tigris, helping him by trying to see his good when the world just brings out his bad. The cast, overall, is just exquisite and a powerhouse when working together for this film.
As the film is so nicely divided into three parts, we are able to easily see the pacing change after the first two parts. The excitement is the games and the buildup to it, but that does not mean that anything outside of that should be dismissed. But the way the third act feels as though it dragged while also feeling as though parts were missing and needing more context to continue. This chapter is an important part of Snow’s story, but its disconnect from the pace of the rest of the film pulls it down.
The film’s costuming and sets light up the film with the most amount of color the franchise has had. Being set in the Capitol, it is not a surprise that everything feels like it is on a much grander scale than the previous entries based on our previous knowledge of its residents. While the visual effects may have been spotty in certain scenes during the games, this film is absolutely visually stunning.
With a standout cast and amazing production visuals, the new entry in ‘The Hunger Games’ franchise falls due to the third act, but that does not completely take away from what the rest of the film was able to do.