1 of 5 | Coriolan Snow (Tom Blythe) is Lucy Gray Bird's (Rachel Zeigler) mentor in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate
LOS ANGELES, November. 9 (UPI) -- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Serpents , which opens in theaters Nov. 17, is a great Hunger Games movie. Based on the prequel novel by Suzanne Collins, it makes up for its lack of familiar characters with provocative themes. Coriolan Snow (Tom Blythe) has become the president of the capital and the head of the annual Hunger Games, where 24 children from 12 districts fight to the death.
But on the eve of the tenth Hunger Games, Snow is still a student fighting for a scholarship. The creator of the games, Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Vila Davis), announces that the final task to win the prize will be to become a master warrior in the Hunger Games for all the capital's students.
It will also become a tradition, as the characters played by Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in the original series were also trained by a teacher for the games.
The Hunger Games (2012) is the 74th edition of the Games, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) is the 75th . The Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Part 1 (2014) and Part 2 (2015) depicted the Civil War.
Snow recruits Lucy Gray Bird (Rachel Zeigler) from District 12, the same district Lawrence's character is from. Tushar and his opponents will be judged on the performance of their fighters, not whether they win or not.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Serpents is divided into three parts covering Snow's teaching of Lucy Grey, the Games and the aftermath of the Games. There is action and intrigue, but more importantly, the prequels also continue the social commentary of the series.
The premise of The Hunger Games is an extreme depiction of what can happen when rich governments have to subjugate their poor subjects. Each match enjoys media coverage before and during the competition.
So, the prequel is how Capital discovered the importance of the media apparatus. The game's inventor, Dean Highbottom (Peter Dinklage), bemoans the declining viewership nine years after The Hunger Games.
Snow realizes the importance of the media and teaches Lucy Gray how to win over the masses. Meanwhile, Snow also develops a Machiavellian political insight that will eventually lead him to the ultimate dystopian position.
The film also shows how Snow's rivals do not learn politics. Your shortcuts don't work. Snow later discovers that the intrigues create unexpected allies, but come at a cost to her friends.
As a senior politician, Tushar never had a nickname, but in his youth his friends and family called him Karyo for short. It's hard to take "Cory" seriously when he's there, but at least they don't call him Anus.
Hunger Games host Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman excels in his role as comic relief. He gets the best lines because he is the only character who can laugh at sick procedures.
Lucy Gray sings songs written by Collins and Dave Cobb. Songs are your performance weapons, and you also learn to use or contain that energy as needed.
Some of the political overtones are very strong. It's a bit risky to keep the contestants at the zoo before the games. Snow's statement "he lands on snow" may not be the most subtle metaphor, but it comes from the book.
The prequel introduces some elements familiar to the original stories. The custom drones that allow visitors to give gifts to fighters don't work well at this early stage, but Snow is able to exploit their flaws to Lucy Grey's advantage.
The middle section with Lucy Gray in The Hunger Games makes the fight exciting, without getting to the point where killing other people's children is considered horrible. Lucy Gray faces the unpredictable nature of war when her defense tactics hit unexpected targets.
Director Francis Lawrence films at least half of the film from a low angle, with the camera on the ground observing the characters. It's an ineffective stylistic enhancement and looks awkward, especially when the camera is below the kneeling characters.
Most of the film takes place in real forests or on stage, with only one vivid arena sequence that looks like individual actors in front of a screen. Intensity is what sets Songbirds and Snakes apart from other modern franchises.
Only Hunger Games fans will want to spend nearly three hours with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. But the prequel largely follows the production values and thematic elements of the films whose stories precede it.
On November 13, Lionsgate's IMAX theater will host an early screening for fans of The Hunger Games: Mockingbird and Snake .
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012, and a member of the Critics' Choice Association since 2023. Learn more about his work in entertainment.
