The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes (2023) Dir: Francis Lawrence
Instagram post:
So, having finally caught up on the story of Katniss Everdeen, it seemed only right to continue on, this time to last year's divisive prequel. I hadn't read Suzanne Collins' book, so Francis Lawrence's story was totally new to me. I wasn't sure what was to come, but I hoped I'd enjoy it regardless.
I have to admit, some of the exposition was pretty atrocious. The first act was quite appalling, in that sense. The writing was a bit ham-fisted throughout the film in truth, but I still found the majority of it watchable. The two protagonists intrigued me, but a lot of the side characters were very poorly written.
I liked the contrasting similarities and differences to the other films, particularly with the games. I wondered how different they would be, and I honestly liked that they were so prehistoric by comparison. It emphasised the evolution of them even more.
The narrative was okay, there were some interesting parts, but equally plenty of mediocre ones. I felt that it was too long - an issue which plagued the other films in the franchise too. I also thought that the pacing let the film down, especially in the first half an hour and again intermittently in the final hour.
I had mixed feelings on the acting of Tom Blyth in the film's leading role. I didn't mind the bulk of his performance, but there was a number of occasions in which he just felt mediocre. He lacked a significant enough presence for my liking - I found him a little unconvincing as the character he was portraying.
For the most part, I really enjoyed Rachel Zegler's performance. I thought she was awfully endearing, and her singing was absolutely exceptional. There was only really one or two scenes where I wasn't so keen, but thankfully those weren't too common.
Of the supporting cast, I felt that Peter Dinklage and Hunter Schafer stood out the most - they gave the most consistent and enjoyable performances by some way. I also rather liked Jason Schwartzman's entertaining portrayal, which was naturally linked to a familiar face from the films set later on.
Those names aside, the most notable supporting roles were performed by Josh Andrés Rivera, Viola Davis and Fionnula Flanagan. I wouldn't say any of them blew me away, on the contrary, I found Viola to be strangely off her game and even a little bemusing with her acting.
Overall, this was a fairly entertaining, if undeniably hampered, prequel, which was fine enough for an evening's viewing. I don't feel the urge to rewatch it coming along anytime soon, certainly not as much as the other films, but I am at least still intrigued in seeing the recently announced follow up film.
Comments