Based on the prequel book to the Hunger Games trilogy, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has reawakened the Hunger Games series and brought its own unique flair to the series of movies. Set over sixty years before the original trilogy, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes dives into the backstory of the most notorious villain of the series: Coriolanus Snow. This movie has exceeded expectations with breathtaking visuals, compelling character development, immersive cinematic effects, and a strong cast. 

Played by Tom Blythe, President Snow is the cold, ruthless dictator of the original Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. He is malicious and murderous, maintaining a cunning and powerful aura. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes dives deep into the villain’s roots to when he was an eighteen year old boy. 

The movie’s beginning portrays Snow not as an icy killer but instead as a bright, ambitious student living in the Capitol. Throughout the nearly two-hour and forty-minute film, Snow’s character is developed tremendously in a seamless way. 

One of my favorite parts of the movie is the intricacy of Snow’s character and the way he visibly changes and evolves throughout the film. The development of his character is not sudden, but relatively slow and steady, climatically building and leading the movie to be more meaningful and exciting. 

In the movie, Coriolanus is Lucy Gray’s mentor during the tenth annual Hunger Games. During the Hunger Games, twenty-four “tributes” are selected by raffle, two from each of the twelve districts. The twenty-four tributes, all children or teenagers, fight each other to the death in an arena, further strengthening the control of the Capitol over the twelve districts. Lucy Gray is a tribute from the poverty-filled, coal-mining district of District 12. Snow has to find a way to get Lucy Gray, played by Rachel Zegler, to beat the other tributes in a violent fight to the death. However, Lucy Gray is an eccentric and musical performer who is not meant to be a killer or fighter. Snow must be cunning and work around Lucy Gray’s values and characteristics if she is to win, something Snow’s entire future could be resting on. 

Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler are both very talented actors who bring their roles to life, and the conflicting personalities of the two characters shine through clearly throughout the movie. 

The talented cast further develops the film into a compelling and riveting story. Famous names are scattered across the cast, with Peter Dinklage, the Emmy-winning actor from Game of Thrones, and Viola Davis, the winner of the rare EGOT award, playing significant roles. 

The cinematic elements of the movie, such as the lighting, camera angles, and music, further heightened the quality of the film and increased the viewer’s immersion. When the camera would set up for an epic shot of Snow walking through the Capital, or when the music filled the theater with a dramatic theme song, I felt truly immersed in the story. All the cinematic elements came together cleanly to form a strong new addition of a movie to the highly praised Hunger Games series.

Something else that stood out was how much more violent this movie was than the original Hunger Games movies. As the film features the tenth Hunger Games, one of the earlier ones, it is clear how much more unrefined and messy this version of the games is than that in the original series. Every aspect of the tenth annual Hunger Games is a stark reminder of the brutality and cruelty of the games, something that is covered up better in later games. 

The movie was long, something I enjoyed greatly, yet some important moments from the book were cut. It is understandable, as the film would have stood well over three hours if everything had been included from the book. However, the movie could have benefitted slightly from adding a few more key moments from the novel. One of these moments is the final battle between Reaper, one of the tributes, and Lucy Gray. However, the way the scene was portrayed in the movie achieved a more emotional mood that wasn’t accomplished as much in the book.

In general, this movie was executed very well in terms of pacing, being divided into three “chapters.” I appreciated the addition of the “chapters” as they helped divide and mark the different parts of this phase of Snow’s life. 

In terms of the box office, this movie has performed exceptionally well. Having made over $200 million worldwide at the box office in a little over two weeks, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has a good chance of being placed in the Top 20 movies of the year. 

Overall, this movie was probably my favorite film in the Hunger Games series.  The characters, plot, visuals, cinematic effects, and music were all executed marvelously. This movie is well worth all of the hype it has received, and I will definitely be re-watching this outstanding film as soon as possible.