The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes - Movie Review

Chris Stuckmann reviews The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, starring Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage. Directed by Francis Lawrence.

[SorchaSublime]

I personally loved how the third part felt almost like snow trying and failing to have a happy ending as a direct consequence of his own actions.

[dianap.]

As someone who did not read the book I think Snows transition to evil was one of the best parts of the movie. He was at his core ambitious and envious AF. Caring for another person did not change that about him.

[LavenousForever]

I think snow is feeling rushed to people who didn’t read the book is because the book is in Snow’s head. He doesn’t “turn bad” all of a sudden. When you’re in his head you see how cold and calculated he is from the beginning. He does care for Lucy in a way, but not as a person. He cares for her as his possession. She is there to benefit him. Then add a little teenage lust and you’ve got their relationship 😅 his personality is a front to get ahead. He is always selfish and cold. Then he finally crosses a line he can’t come back from in part 3

[Jackie_Shriek]

Didn’t see this yet, but I wouldn’t mind more disconnected hunger games movies about random games throughout the worlds history.

[Bayuuk]

As someone who read the book, they were arguably very faithful to the book. There's some significant changes, but they got most of the main story beats, and everyone was well cast for what they were needed for. I definitely expected a lot of people to have issues with the 3rd act, that section in the book is definitely the most divisive. Overall still a fun time

[Locadel]

The second movie was the best and most fun movie of the entire franchise in my opinion. Always rewatch that one very often because was directed better than the first and was all around more creative and enjoyable

[OrionInSpace]

Ever since Francis Lawrence took over for making the Hunger Games films after the first one, deep down I kept thinking "you know he might be the best choice for the BioShock movie". After all he's tapped to do that movie. The Hunger Games movies are built for world building and the production of them stands out so much that when Francis is directing them he really captures that atmosphere. BioShock is arguably maybe the best game ever in terms of atmosphere and I think he'd be a great choice for that film whenever it comes.

[coldwave]

I think many people are getting confused and feeling "rushed" in the third act because they thought or felt Snow was even remotely "good" in the first two and I'd say that it worked extremely well if most people can't identify clear red flags he is showing in the first two parts. Snow is a selfish and highly manipulative narcissist through and through, the first two acts he LITERALLY only wants to win the Plinth prize and improve his own position in life by getting into the university. He sees Lucy as something he can own and manipulate because she is district, I believe that he may have caught feelings of some sort for her but he is so self-centered that those surface level feelings only go so far for true narcissists and are easily brushed off again once he has a way in the third act to get out of trouble and back to the capital. The third act is not him becoming "bad" he was always that, the third act just has this part of him unravel into the open a bit more and show that he is not even above killing to get what he wants.

[trinaq]

You really get invested in Snow and Lucy Gray's relationship, despite knowing that it won't last, and that Snow is going to go to the dark side. The performances were fantastic all round, and Viola Davis is always a win.

[bnm]

This surprisingly ended up my favorite book in the series, and I gotta say, they mostly absolutely nailed the adaptation. I wish part 3 were a little longer, but I think the “good Snow” everyone seems to think of in the early parts of the movie will fade away with rewatches. The ending is stronger than you think when you know everything

[emilyz]

i feel like people who read the book don’t mind the third part because we know it’s coming

[hiymecorp.]

When I read the books I didn’t like the relationship. The whole time you’re reading the book in snows perspective so you get to see what he’s actually thinking instead of what’s shown on screen.
Throughout the whole book snow is only looking out for himself so anything he did for Lucy gray was only done to farther his success in the capital. It’s until he loses everything after the games end that he considered a life with Lucy gray.
So his “sudden” change for becoming evil wasn’t really sudden. He was always a bad guy. The dude basically hated everyone in his class and he was the fakest friend to sejanus even before they both became peacekeepers. The movie really tried to push a more “caring” snow when really he was just heartless that whole time.

[benwasserman]

It feels like a lifetime since the first Hunger Games movie came out. Granted reality became one extended, incredibly stupid dystopian novel since, so that killed the mood for more of that genre. But it’s certainly been a while 😅

[caedmoon]

This is one of the exceptions where reading the book greatly improves the movie. There was so much that seemed rushed in the movie that they went over wayyy slower in the book. Knowing what happens in the book helps you understand things much better like Snow’s turn to evil. I think this would greatly benefit from a directors cut or whatever you call it. I personally really loved the movie and I think it would be even better if it was longer.

[JG_]

As someone who read the book but who hasn't seen the movie yet, it's interesting that you didn't like the 3rd part of the movie cause that was actually by far the best part of the book for me. I actually have a theory as to why that might be. So obviously going in we know that one way or another Snow eventually ends up as a bad guy since he's the villain of the main series. And in a book you can do things that you can't do in a movie, so we're able to get a deeper understanding of Coriolanus' thoughts, and the reasons behind his actions. Throughout the earlier part of the book, they do a really good job of painting him as a manipulative psychopath who makes the right choices and says the right things, but only because he knows that they will reflect well on him. He's constantly worried about the image of himself that he portrays and how other people are viewing him. So it makes his spiral into villainy so much easier to understand as the story progresses. Portraying that in a movie though must be really hard. So I'm not surprised you said it felt abrupt.

[Trill_Tour]

I thought the actor that played Snow was simply phenomenal

[enigmasong]

part 1 & 2 were fast-paced and entertaining but seeing his turn in part 3 was the most interesting and the heart of the movie for me.

[untamedbanana]

the water spamming scene was low key hilarious

[jorgealan]

I read the original books and watched the trilogy. Had no idea of what to expect and hands down it was an amazing movie. I loved the character development from Snow and what got him into the villain we know.

[williamwallace]

I just saw the movie in theater and now I'm just confused by all the negative reviews. Definitely my favorite hunger games movie, probably one of my new all time favorite movies. Which is strange cause I tend to go harsher on movies than a lot of other people and many critics, so I just left feeling like I must have seen a completely different movie from everyone else. Personally liked the 3rd act, it's just very unconventional story structure for modern films. The movie feels like a condensed version of an old school 5 hour epic with huge tonal shifts throughout