{"id":8585,"date":"2023-11-22T18:07:39","date_gmt":"2023-11-22T18:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/?p=8585"},"modified":"2023-11-22T22:23:54","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T22:23:54","slug":"the-hunger-games-the-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes-movie-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/2023\/11\/the-hunger-games-the-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes-movie-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviewing “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cWelcome! Welcome, welcome. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With those words, a world was born. Suzanne Collins released the first novel in her bestseller series, The Hunger Games, in 2008. Three books and five movies later, Collins is keeping viewers hooked. In my past reviews<\/a>, I\u2019ve referred to movies as \u201cemotional rollercoasters,\u201d but watching and experiencing The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes took the meaning of that phrase to a whole new level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film, directed by Francis Lawrence, takes us on a three-part journey through the backstory of Coriolanus Snow. Those familiar with the original trilogy remember President Snow as the villain, but after watching The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes it\u2019s impossible to continue seeing him so one-dimensionally. Instead, we see a deeper, more intricate, side of the story, one that truly puts Snow\u2019s full character on display. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Source: Entertainment Weekly <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the span of two and a half hours, Snow goes from a young man trying to make ends meet, to a coldhearted killer. Tom Blyth delivers Snow\u2019s infamous line, \u201cSnow lands on top,\u201d both at the start and end of the film, bringing his character\u2019s villainous charisma to life.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first act, we are introduced to the tribute Snow mentors, Lucy Gray Baird. Baird, played by Rachel Zegler, is a tribute from district twelve, and a parallel to Katniss Everdeen. Describing the depth of Zegler\u2019s performance is impossible, it must be seen to be understood. You have to hear her sing the Hanging Tree song, or watch her eyes during her final minutes on screen, to see the true magic Zegler delivers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jason Schwartzman, Viola Davis and Josh Andr\u00e9s Rivera rounded out the film with their shining supporting roles. Everything Davis did, from her singular piercing blue eye to her dominating and malicious presence in every scene, gave her character, Head Gamemaker Dr. Gaul, life. Jason Schwartzman, who played Lucky Flickerman, brought a breath of fresh air to the movie, supplying the audience with little moments of laughter even in the most terrifying scenes. Josh Andr\u00e9s Rivera\u2019s Sejanus Plinth was defiant yet naive in contrast to Snow. As Snow\u2019s attitude towards Plinth changed throughout the film, we could see how the shift affected both characters thanks to the deeply revealing acting of both Blyth and Rivera. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Source: The Wrap<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As with any action movie, cinematography is key. Joe Willems, the cinematographer for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, intentionally used space and setting to tie pieces of the film together. Every camera angle and every shot is meticulously planned to provide the most pleasure, laughter or terror in any given moment. Willems is also responsible for the multiple jump scares that sent my heart leaping out of my chest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to acting and cinematography, this film\u2019s score was its standout feature. Zegler\u2019s Baird sings a myriad of songs throughout the film, some of which are subtle hints to the songs Katniss sings in the other Hunger Games films. There was subtext underneath everything Baird sang, captured excellently by both the songwriters and cinematographers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides the songs, sprinkled throughout the film were many parallels and easter eggs from the original series, ranging from the iconic Katniss Everdeen bow (that any Hunger Games fan could spot from a mile away), to Snow\u2019s fondness for roses and the final line of the film (I won\u2019t spoil, you\u2019ll have to watch it yourself to find out). Coriolanus Snow\u2019s origin tale was a well-told, well-acted and well-edited masterpiece that I was lucky to experience and I highly recommend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWelcome! Welcome, welcome. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor.\u201d  With those words, a world was born. Suzanne Collins released the first novel in her bestseller series, The Hunger Games, in 2008. Three books and five movies later, Collins is keeping viewers hooked. In my past reviews, I\u2019ve referred to movies as \u201cemotional rollercoasters,\u201d but watching and experiencing The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes took the meaning of that phrase<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":345,"featured_media":8586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[319,318,321],"tags":[],"coauthors":[498],"class_list":["post-8585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-news","category-opinion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screen-Shot-2023-11-22-at-1.06.40-PM-e1700676453358.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/345"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8585"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8608,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8585\/revisions\/8608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8585"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=8585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}