The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Review: A Power-Hungry Prequel

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Review: A Power-Hungry Prequel

By Dylan Barbee

Courtesy of @thehungergames on Instagram 

To what lengths must a person or government go to control human nature’s darkest impulses? The idea of “humanity undressed,” as Dr. Gaul terrifyingly puts it, is at the core of dystopia’s latest box office hit “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and Suzanne Collin’s 2020 novel of the same name. The film masterfully sends viewers to a pre-Katniss Panem, beginning in the Dark Days and ending with a young future-President Snow beginning his rise towards becoming the fascist president we see in the original Hunger Games trilogy. 

The film focuses on the 10th Hunger Games, during which The Capitol of Panem is visibly reconstructing its city's skyscrapers and monuments ten years after the end of the Dark Days, the culmination of a war that began when a rebellion erupted against Panem’s government. The opening scene of “Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is of young Coriolanus Snow and his cousin Tigris witnessing a starving man eat the flesh of another human due to the lack of access to food and water as The Capital has been blown to rubble from the attacks perpetrated by the rebels. Through this, we see young Snow’s trauma, resentment of the rebellion and longing for order being molded at a young age.

Throughout the film, we continue to see how Snow’s (Tom Blyth) upbringing in The Capitol influences his thought process, as he navigates Panem’s government’s toxic bureaucracy while peddling a facade of his family’s wealth. Tom Blyth excelled greatly at playing the soon-to-be tyrannical leader, effectively displaying Snow’s emotional conflicts and battles with both himself and the people around him during his adolescent years. One of my favorite concepts from both the movie and the book is that we are seeing The Hunger Games from The Capitol’s perspective, rather than the anti-government perspective we saw from people in the districts during the original Hunger Games series. Watching the formation of the Games from The Capitol's perspective gives the audience an opportunity to learn more about the purpose behind The Hunger Games and what internal challenges The Capitol faces despite being above all the districts. 

“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” does a decent job of displaying how cold and evil the people of The Capitol are towards people living in the districts. I respect that most of what is shown in the movie is accurate to the book regarding the chilling practices that The Capitol conducted during the earlier games. For example, all the tributes were held in a zoo cage days before the Games began as if they were animals. Also, the arena of the 10th Hunger Games in the movie was equally as terrifying as described in the book. The bare, vacant arena and its lack of hiding places made certain violent scenes more intense, and the realization that these are actually children fighting each other to the death is haunting, and portrayed more clearly than in the original movies. The fight scenes were entertaining as they were captured at creative camera angles. However, the book’s display of the 10th Hunger Games is darker than the movie. 

This film is about spectacle, achieved through The Capitol’s control of the narrative through its media and propaganda. Snow is part of a mentorship program where he is assigned to be a mentor of one of the tributes in the district and if he wins he will receive the Plinth Prize, a scholarship awarded to an academy student each year. Snow and his fellow mentors are assigned by Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage), one of the creators of the Games, to make their tribute spectacles that people in The Capitol care about. The mentor who most effectively turns their tribute into a star receives the Plinth Prize. Even though the Plinth Prize is on the line, most of the other mentors view their assigned tributes as disposable career stepping stones rather than human beings. Snow, however, approaches his tribute Lucy Gray (Rachel Zegler) in a more respectful and human manner. 

Through his growing relationship with Lucy and his time at the University, we learn more about young Snow. This movie illustrates Snow’s introspective journey to finding his identity and following his father’s footsteps to fulfill his destiny and become one of Panem’s elite. As a teenager, Snow is loyal to The Capitol, but isn’t afraid to break some rules to get what he wants. Lucy Gray, a District 12 tribute brings out a lover boy side to Snow, almost bringing him to abandon his goals of becoming a prominent figure in The Capitol to start a new life in the woods with Lucy. However, when Snow’s ties to The Capitol are put into question, he snitches on his childhood best friend Sejanus when he plans a rebellion in District 12, and earns a ticket back to The Capitol, becoming a well-respected ally of the head game maker, Dr. Gaul (Viola Davis).

The cast of the latest Hunger Games movie is perfect. Viola Davis was the clear star of the film, portraying a terrifying villain who had a mad scientist appearance and persona to her which left the audience frightened. Rachel Zegler was a well-casted Lucy Gray, although her accent caught me off guard at first. She did a great job at displaying herself as a performer who needed to fight rather, creating a compelling contrast to Katniss Everdeen, who was a fighter who needed to perform. 

“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” has its faults. Some of the most intriguing characters and plots in the book were less compelling in the movie. For example, I feel like Sejanus was a more likable person in the book and the subplot of him trying to orchestrate a rebellion in the districts was more engaging. Also, the third act of the movie felt rushed, weakening the emotional effects of the story’s heart-racing finale.

Regardless of this movie’s shortcomings, the accurate castings of the characters, the compelling numerous themes and the captivating setting of Panem, the latest installment of The Hunger Games is a great film. The film puts forward gripping questions: Is trust more important than love in a relationship? Is humanity inherently good or evil? And most importantly, what are the Hunger Games for?

“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'' accurately displays how easily humans can be corrupted, and the impact that making evil choices has on a person. Although director Francis Lawrence is yet to top “Catching Fire,” this film is one of the best film adaptations of The Hunger Games that Lionsgate has produced. 

Rating: 8.5/10