The latest Hunger Games entry takes us back a few decades, to explore the beginning of the commercialisation of the games, and the origin of the tyrannical leader of the games we’re used to, President Snow (Tom Blyth). We watch a jam-packed story, split into three parts, taking us through the first mentor selection process, the tenth game ceremony and then the post game life that Snow and Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) share. Lucy is the entire reasoning for the colon in the film, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, because she is dubbed a songbird early on, can charm snakes and knocks out a ballad or two throughout the exhausting two hour and forty minute runtime.
Like anyone else who grew up in the 2010s, I was all in for The Hunger Games mania. The book trilogy caught on, just at the right time for the films to come out, capturing a perfect little pocket of pop culture, with an engaging story, YA romance storyline and enough darkness for the teens of the time to feel like we were allowed to be watching a “grown up” film.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes comes out as the hunger for The Hunger Games was dying down, reviving the fan fiction obsessed teenagers in their twenties. The box office numbers definitely show that the intrigue for the franchise is alive and people want more from this universe, but is this the story we needed to tell?
I don’t think so, there is conflict of characters here, as we’re led to sympathise with Coriolanus Snow who we know is going to be the fascist President Snow when we meet him in the original trilogy. The film overcorrects in the final third, so you know that he is super bad and mean and cruel. For the first two thirds though, they make him likeable, with very few hints to who is he going to be. The film would have worked a lot better if his actions were soiled by manipulation or maybe a reveal of manipulation later on.
The story also drags along, especially in the setup and conclusion. The middle segment of watching the tenth Hunger Games ceremony unfold was actually really engaging. I appreciated seeing this side to the story the most, even if we have seen a Hunger Games play out before in the previous films. The small scale of this arena and the dynamics between the smaller cast made it an exciting segment to follow.
The film is flashy in presentation, with grand sets, landscapes, costumes and camera movements. It’s not afraid to show the scale of the world, craning around the environment, showing off the views. This is especially in the arena, which is quite small but made to feel huge with the emphasis on high angles, matching with tight shots on the contestants and their conflict.
The violence in this section feels a bit held back, assumingly to keep the rating down to what it was. I don’t think this really detracts from the film, but takes away some of the brutality that is felt in the original trilogy.
It is time, the songs and singing in this film are a pretty big plot point, really utilising the casting of Rachael Zegler, giving her about five full length songs to perform in this one. She, of course, sounds really good and the songs themselves are pretty inoffensive. I didn’t personally need full length versions in the film, but I can understand why they’re in there.
The musicality has been picked apart and hailed as the downfall of the film, which I think is crazy when you have other more valid elements to comment on. I think a lot of it comes with the inherent distaste that people have for Rachael Zegler.
The other lead, Tom Blyth, plays a perfectly good Snow, with an endearing enough portrayal to make him likeable for the first two thirds, and a little bit of a lack of menace until the final moments to show his full descent into evil villainy. I appreciated him most in the Hunger Games part of the film, watching him be a mentor and strategise with genuine care for Lucy Gray.
Other than the two leads, we have the strongest performances in the film, Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage. They both play side characters but bring the most memorable performances. Viola Davis is Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the Game Master of ceremony, playing a completely unhinged scientist type of character, who is hell bent on creating the most engaging games, no matter the cost. She is menacing and booming in her dialogue, overpowering anyone she is on screen with. Her costumes are also very standout, with flowing dresses of varying colours.
Peter Dinklage brings a lot of emotional weight to the film, with a heaviness on his heart about what the games have turned into. He plays Dean Casca Highbottom, who helped to create the games, along with Coriolanus’ father. He is struggling to contend with the impact the games are having on the people involved, from the creation to the families it's tearing apart.
Hunter Schafer is a crimiinally underused Tigris, the sister of Coriolanus Snow. She is in this a little bit at the beginning and end, with pop ups throughout, but is so good every time she is on screen. It's a shame she’s not in it more.
Jason Schwartzman plays the presenter of the ceremony, Lucky Flickerman. He brings full stupidity and campness to the character, the lightness in the movie. His jokes feel out of place in the context of the film but obviously that’s the point of the role, blending senseless murder with a light hearted weather report and an out of place pun.
The film doesn’t seem to set up a new set of films, based on the fact there are also no new books out, I think we may be waiting a while to dive back into the Hunger Games world. I think it's one they could explore more, really drain the life out of the world, or just leave it as it is and let us all return to the franchise every now and again to relive our childhoods. Final note, there are two characters in this story whose names end with “anus”. At what point was this a good baby name, and why do two anus’ know each other, surely its not that common.
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