The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023) Review!!

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

My Take – It is time to return to Panem in this latest installment of the The Hunger Games which are focused on bizarre televised survival contests and sees children fight to the death in dangerous arenas, while gaining the favor of a vapid, privileged audience.

Adapted from Suzanne Collins’ trilogy for young adults, the feature series which ran from 2012 to 2015, albeit to diminishing returns, not just confirmed the superstar status of Jennifer Lawrence due to her portrayal of the defiant heroine Katniss Everdeen, but won acclaim all around for its full of commentary-via-metaphor on class, politics, war, propaganda, and the inherent violence of the entertainment industry.

However, in this latest installment returning director Francis Lawrence takes us back more than six decades before the original series and follows the power hungry Capitol President Coriolanus Snow, mounting up the events that shaped the destiny of the vicious villain.

Ambitious, efficiently directed and insight fully written by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt, the prequel contains all the potent ingredients of the previous films and then some, making this is one a rare prequel that works.

Yes, it has some story issues, pacing irregularities and isn’t vibrant as the first two Hunger Games films, yet it is layered and willing to take risks, offering a terrifying vision on the corruption of power. Making it one of the better films of franchise, that will resonate highly with fans of the series.

Set thirteen years after the First Rebellion with the Districts, the story follows an 18-year-old Coriolanus “Coryo” Snow (Tom Blyth), who after watching his perfect world turn upside down is now living in poverty with his grandmother (Fionnula Flanagan) and his cousin Tigris (Hunter Schafer).

As the last hope for his fading lineage, Coriolanus has performed exceedingly well at the Academy, headed by mad-scientist Games designer Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis), along with game-maker Dean Casca (Peter Dinklage). Alas, the rules have now changed since no one is really watching the games.

With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, along with 24 fellow students, Coriolanus is now assigned as a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a traveling singer from District 12, who seems hopeless at first, until her talent for showmanship proves she’s at least ready to make a lasting impression on the viewers at home. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and political savvy, the two race against time to ultimately reveal who’s a songbird and who’s a snake.

At 157 minutes, the prequel is divided into three chapters, shifting from the savagery of the death games to the development of Coriolanus and Lucy’s romance and more. The film is a tragedy, at its heart. I will say this is maybe the first time that a Hunger Games film has really driven the point home that these are children killing children, the stripped-down empty sports hall sits in stark contrast to the flash and pomp of the environments of future arenas, with no beautiful scenery or eye-catching wildlife to distract from the brutal violence. The spectacle feels real.

The film explores the incredibly charged concepts of systemic fascism and media sensationalism and takes them to dark, horrifying places. One particularly ruthless scene with the youngest member of the district had me shocked in the pitiless demands of this film.

At its core, the film is an original story of a tyrant; someone whose ambition grows so big that it completely shadows over their humanity. Here, he is young, innocent and driven; hopeful that he will follow in the footsteps of his late father. Yet, like all dystopias unravel, here the same kid might have to take a look back at his principles in order to survive the unforgiving district.

Through his eyes we see how members from the other districts are treated, this time from within the Capitol. We see that life in the Capitol isn’t ideal for everybody either, although the other districts do have it worse. It doesn’t feel like this film relies on the originals to bring up feelings of injustice when it comes to the story. Instead, it creates new fires that inform the eventual rebellion.

The action scenes, particularly those set in the shambolic, crumbling area, are far more exciting than most of the CGI-heavy muck one typically finds in franchise films these days. The creative team’s interest in fleshing out Panem pays off too, lending The Hunger Games a feeling of relevance, even fifteen years after the first book’s publication.

Performances wise, Tom Blyth excels in his role as young Coriolanus Snow. Blyth makes the role his own and is the only reason the complete change of character in the third act works, laying hints throughout that this side of him might have been there all along. Similarly, Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray creates a character who’s the complete opposite of Katniss and luminous presence radiates through the screen. Josh Andrés Rivera is the moral center and real tragedy of the film, and does an admirable job playing Snow’s kindly foil.

In supporting roles, Viola Davis is downright terrifying, Peter Dinklage is effective, while Jason Schwartzman is absurdly hilarious. Hunter Schafer, too radiates in an underwritten role. In other roles, Mackenzie Lansing, Ashley Liao, Aamer Husain, Jerome Lance and Knox Gibson are effective. On the whole, ‘The Hunger Games The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ is a satisfying origin story that marks an ambitious yet flawed return to Panem.