THE HUNGER GAMES, but make it a musical is the very basic premise of this prequel to the popular series from the 2010’s. Also make sure all of the songs hit you over the head with their themes and lyrics, like one of those literal music videos that used to be popular on YouTube.
A BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES is hard to spoil because everything about it is in the title. Every plot turns and a lot of the dialogue is here to remind you: This is about songbirds! And snakes! The literal songbirds that fly in the sky, but also about pretty teenage girls who sing. And snakes! Actual snakes and the type of people who betray each other. There’s nothing deeper to it and if you try to find anything beyond that you’ll end up even more disappointed than me.
I was never a HUNGER GAMES super fan, but I did enjoy the books and the original four films. I rewatched them in anticipation of viewing this and even when those films were at their worst (MOCKINGJAY – PART 1), they’re still head & shoulders above this travesty. It’s too bad, because the history of how Panem and the districts came to be could be an interesting story about despair, civil war, revolution, and hope; something that could have been relevant to today’s world. Instead, you’ll be treated to a more than 2 ½ hour expose on how if a girl had just been nicer to President Snow then maybe he wouldn’t have turned out so evil.
The cast is the best part of the film, a group of up-and-coming and established actors who are doing their best with ham-fisted dialogue. Standouts include Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow, EUPHORIA’S Hunter Schafer as Tigris, and Josh Andrés Rivera as one of Snow’s schoolmates, Sejanus Plinth. As the story needed a strong female lead who could sing A LOT, Rachel Zegler is a natural choice. Her voice is gorgeous, even if the songs written for her to perform are mostly emotionally flat. Celebrated actors such as Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage should be able to uplift a film like this but not even their enormous talent combined helps. While I did read the original trilogy of books, I did not read the novel upon which this film was based. Perhaps, hopefully, it’s better? Or does it also have a ton of unnecessary callbacks (call-forwards?) to the original books? As if it needs to keep reminding us over & over again, this is a Hunger Games story! We get it. Now stop.
The Hunger Games featured here, taking place 64 years before the events of THE HUNGER GAMES, is one of the stronger sections of the film. Panem hasn’t perfected the technology that makes the more recent games so terrifying. These games are far more simple and primal. A story completely around the early years of the games might have even been better than A BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES.
THE HUNGER GAMES: A BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES is playing in theaters, or can be rented and purchased from your local online retailer.
