[Review] The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes (7.5/10)

 

Title - The Hugner Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes
Production - Color Force, Good Universe, Lions Gate Films
Starring - Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Viola Davis, Josh Andres Rivera, Hunter Schafer, Fionnula Flanagan, Max Raphael, Peter Dinklage, Mackenzie Lansing, Zoe Renee, Ashley Liao, Lily Maria Cooper, Aamer Husain
Writer - Michael Lesslie, Michael Arndt
Director - Francis Lawrence
Release - 17 November 2023

I quite enjoyed this movie. I would have liked it more had it been split into two, with this first movie focusing on just that first game. The execution up until the end of the game was the best Hunger Games movie I've seen, with great performance by Rachel Zegler - and that singing voice. 

Tom Blyth did enough to be the main lead, with great supporting effort from Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage. There was plenty of drama leading up to the game, and the game itself was exciting to watch from start to finish as we feared for Zegler's character every time she did something she wasn't supposed to, all in the fun of creating drama.

The second half was a change in gear. While still entertaining, I thought it would have been better being a sequel than crammed it into the first movie. Things moved a little quicker from scene to scene, so much so that it got a little harder to follow the details.

There was a scene where Blyth's character recorded his conversation with Josh Andres Rivera's character, and there was something off about Blyth's acting there that made me think he wasn't aware he the device was recording. So the direction was also a little careless here. 

And by the end, Blyth mentioned to Zegler that he killed three people which was a pivotal moment, and that confused me again as I couldn't keep track who was the third person he killed. Something about the pacing in the second half just didn't make sense in my head, even though I was completely onboard with the romance between the two leads.

Still, it was a much better effort by Francis Lawrence with this movie in the entire franchise. This was easily a standout for me.