The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) is once again directed by Francis Lawrence and stars Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Viola Davis, Josh Andres Rivera, Hunter Schafer, and Peter Dinklidge. The film is a prequel to the original Hunger Games story and follows Corionlanus Snow’s rise from idealistic politician to feared leader, mostly centered around the story of the tenth annual Hunger Games. Snow is chosen to mentor the seemingly helpless District 12 tribute: Lucy Gray Baird. Throughout the game, Snow begins to fall in love with Lucy, forcing him to try anything in order to keep her alive. Although this is an undeniably worthy entry in The Hunger Games franchise, it does sometimes struggle with its enormous length as well as its struggle to balance both natural and forced foreshadowing of eventual outcomes. 

Tom Blyth gives a worthy performance as President Snow, showing us much more of his human side while subtly reminding us that he may have some kind of darkness buried deep inside. Rachel Zegler is effective in her emotional moments, but the script sort of lets the character down. We never get much of a hint as to what her intentions might be, especially in the third act. Though, by the end of the film we are left with the idea that her lack of clear motivations is exactly what drives Snow mad in the end. That element works well, but I feel that we as the audience could’ve been given more insight without likewise giving Snow that same insight. It would’ve achieved the same for Snow’s character while not leaving us with some really mysterious questions. Her singing is also as beautiful as it gets, and I suspect that Zegler was cast partially because of her ability to sing. There’s much more singing in the film than I was originally expecting, but in hindsight, I should’ve been aware after reading the title. The singing felt initially out of place, but the fact that she is able to sing is very much an important part of the story. Likewise, the musical scenes never overstay their welcome. Viola Davis is a stand-out here, really giving us the maniacal and flamboyant game maker character I always wanted from the previous films. Josh Andres Rivera is likewise great, but not featured in much of the marketing. His role is substantial and provides a morality to the film that it would otherwise lack. Peter Dinklidge is fun, but his role is much more limited than I was expecting. Kind of just plays a late-season version of Tyrion from Game of Thrones. 

The film is split into three sections, with the first two being some of the most compelling Hunger Games fare in the series. It intelligently brings back The Hunger Games element that was noticeably absent from the previous two films. The third section of the film is where the issues really begin to appear. The third section takes place after the events of the tenth annual Hunger Games, but it unfortunately feels like a completely separate story. They end up compacting what should seemingly be its own movie into a 40 min section of this film. It’s not particularly “bad” in any way, just rushed. The groundwork for Snow’s eventual transformation should’ve been done throughout the film, not just the last section. It ends up feeling cheesy, with clear character motivations being left on the cutting room floor. Although the first two sections do succeed at building the romance/coexistence between Snow and Lucy, it sacrifices what we all assumed was the intention of this prequel: to show Snow’s transformation into an evil ruler. This is all compounded by the fact that the film is extremely long. It makes the rushed third section feel even more rushed strangely enough. In other words, the pace of the third section is out of whack with the pace of the first two. It makes it stand out more than it would have if the first two sections were equally rushed.  

The film is also a mixed bag when it comes to foreshadowing future events. When the film foreshadows things specifically related to the character of Snow, it succeeds. When the film foreshadows elements related to Katniss or future events, it fails. The film sometimes doesn’t know if it wants to be a prequel for Snow or The Hunger Games series as a whole. 

Where the film does succeed is being consistently compelling throughout. Although the film is long, it’s never boring. There are always compelling character dynamics that pull the viewer though. The visuals are likewise as good as they’ve ever been, bringing us an older style that is still fully recognizable as the world we’ve come to know from the series.

Overall, The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes is a deliciously entertaining addition to The Hunger Games franchise that only suffers from a few structural missteps. The performances are strong and the action is clear and compelling. It brings all the irresistible elements of the franchise and serves them in a single-movie package. This fact is likewise the film’s biggest strength and biggest flaw. B