The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) Movie Review

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes – Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-up 2024 – H

Director: Francis Lawrence

Writer: Michael Lesslie, Michael Arndt (Screenplay)

Writer: Suzanne Collins (Novel)

Cast

• Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid)
• Rachel Zegler (West Side Story)
• Hunter Schafer (Euphoria)
• Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore)
• Peter Dinklage (Cyrano)
• Josh Andres Rivera (Cat Person)
• Viola Davis (The Woman King)

Plot: Coriolanus Snow mentors and develops feelings for the female District 12 tribute during the 10th Hunger Games.

Runtime: 2 Hours 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes starts on the eve of the 10^th annual games. Coriolanus Snow (Blyth) is one of the students selected to mentor the newest batch of tributes. He must impress Dean Casca Highbottom (Dinklage) who dislikes him, while the game creator Dr Gaul (Davis) is impressed with his new ideas.

Lucy Gray (Zegler) is selected as Coriolanus’ tribute, and he uses his opportunity to work with her to present a more entertaining performer. However, he decides to use this opportunity to take a stand against the games, as the rising tension with the rebels is causing problems.

Verdict on The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is a prequel to the original mega franchise. It follows the early life of Snow and how he was involved in the 10^th games. However, he gets too involved with his tribute and starts his plan to overthrow the system.

This movie seems to get caught up in wanting to tell too many stories. I thought it was about to end, only to discover a new story is about to start an hour half into the movie. It could have been broken up into two movies, to give everyone more time to shine, instead of cramming everything into one movie. Prequels are always harder because we know the fate of characters too and any peril Coriolanus is put in feels pointless as you know he is a big part of the franchise.

Where to Watch

JustWatch

Final Thoughts – The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes overstays its premise.