The movie is based on the book The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, which was released in May of 2020.
The prequel movie to the Hunger Games trilogy, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, hit theaters in the US in mid-November and debuted at number one in the box office during its opening weekend. The film features future Panem President, Coriolanus Snow, played by Tom Blyth, and Lucy Gray Baird, played by Rachel Zegler. The movie is set 64 years before the first book in the Hunger Games trilogy and is directed by Francis Lawrence who also directed the second, third, and fourth Hunger Games movies. The film has grossed over $280 million worldwide.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow in his last year at the Academy, the school for the wealthy and elite children of the Capitol, as he tries to win the Plinth Prize, which is an award granted once a year to the member of the graduating class with the highest grades. Winning the award allows the student to attend the Capitol University for free, which is the only way Coriolanus can attend the University because of the poor financial state his family is in. Coriolanus lives with his grandma and his sister, Tigris, who took a job in the Capitol as a seamstress after Coriolanus’s dad, a general major for Panem in the First Rebellion, died in the war and Coriolanus’s mom died in childbirth. The Snow family, who is very well-known in the Capitol’s social hierarchy, still owns the house they lived in before the war and feigns being incredibly wealthy despite the fact that they are barely getting by from meal to meal. Coriolanus’s plan to receive the prize, which he is favored to win, is thrown for a loop when the 24 top members of his class are chosen to be the start of a mentoring program for the tenth annual Hunger Games. The headmaster of the Academy, Casca Highbottom, announces that each of the 24 students from the Academy will be matched with one of the tributes who they will be in charge of mentoring and preparing for the Games. It is announced that the Plinth prize will be given to whichever student’s tribute is crowned the victor of the Games. Coriolanus is assigned to Lucy Gray Baird, a girl from District 12 whom Coriolanus gets to know as he is trying to prepare her for the Games. Coriolanus experiences many ups and downs as he prepares Lucy Gray for the Games, all of which shape the person he becomes, from the protagonist of Ballad to the infamous antagonist of the Hunger Games trilogy.
Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes does an outstanding job of bringing the original storyline from Suzanne Collins’s book to life, in the same way the original Hunger Games movies made the words jump right off the page for fans of the original Hunger Games trilogy books. Even for people who haven’t read the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes book, the film is action-packed and full of suspense, even for people who aren’t interested in the storyline’s connection to the story of the Hunger Games that takes place 64 years after the events of the movie. The acting from Tom Blynth as Coriolanus and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird was incredible, and the two portrayed the dynamic emotions their characters experience throughout the film because of the events that take place. The key thing that makes this movie stand out to viewers is the sustained action throughout the entire plot, even after the movie feels like it should end after the conclusion of the Games but continues because of an unseen turn of events that keeps the viewer intrigued. The movie’s soundtrack, especially with Lucy Gray’s character being known as a singer in the film, enhances the plot, creates an emotional connection between the audience and Lucy Gray’s character, and makes the audience feel empathetic towards Lucy Gray. The song Olivia Rodrigo wrote for the movie, Can’t Catch Me Now, is included in the movie’s soundtrack, however, it only plays during the movie’s credits and isn’t actually included in the movie. The song should’ve been included toward the end of the movie to create a larger impact before the movie shows Coriolanus’s last action of the film.
I would recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of the Hunger Games, and anyone who enjoys watching action movies in general; however, the movie is still entertaining even for someone with no previous knowledge about the Hunger Games. I give this movie five stars out of five.
