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Posted in: Kaitlyn Booth, Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: lionsgate, Review, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes
The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes Review: Some Stumbles In Adaptation
The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes isn't a bad time at the theater, and it is interesting to see how the character we know will become the villain descends into madness.
Article Summary
- Adaptation stumbles with pacing due to a structure that works better in the book.
- Prequel offers enough context to welcome new and existing Hunger Games fans.
- Performances shine, especially Viola Davis as a mad scientist and Rachel Zegler.
- Issues with pacing might prevent it from being a hit, but fans will still enjoy it.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes stumbles in adaptation from book to film primarily in the structure, and while it also runs a little too long, it's not a bad return to this world for those familiar with this franchise or those who know next to nothing.
Director: Francis Lawrence
Summary: Coriolanus Snow mentors and develops feelings for the female District 12 tribute during the 10th Hunger Games.
The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes Stumbles In Adaptation From Book To Film
The biggest hurdle that many adaptations have is trying to mitigate any of the differences that might arise from how we consume the different pieces of media. Even with something as similar as movie to television or vice versa, you still don't watch one like the other, and the productions that forget that are the ones that fail. Books have the same problem as any other adaptation when they switch mediums because you don't read a book like you watch a movie, and that was plenty evident in the original four films based on The Hunger Games. All of those books were told in Katniss's first-person point of view, which meant that the film had to do some serious legwork to show us what was going on when they decided to cut away from her. The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes doesn't have that point of view problem, but what it does have is a structure problem. The structure of this story makes complete sense for a book, but for a movie, it just doesn't work.
When you are watching a movie with a title as long as this one and the beginning of the title says "The Hunger Games," you expect said games to play a major part in the film. In fact, you're probably going to assume that the games are part of the climax of the film if you're going into this without knowing anything about this story. That is why it's a little jarring that the games take place at best two-thirds through the film, and there is still a fairly significant amount of film to follow. This sort of structure works just fine in a book, but for a movie, it means that the last half of the film drags because the tension from the games is gone. It doesn't help that The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes is a good fifteen minutes, minimum, too long and, like most films that have come out in 2023, could have used another round of cuts before the final edit.
In terms of approachability, this is about as approachable as a prequel could get. The connections to the first movies, aside from the character of President Snow, are some incidental references to worldbuilding. It adds some context to a few things and might change the way you look at scenes in the original films, but you don't need to have watched all four of the films or read any of the books to understand what is going on in The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes. It broadens the possible audience for the film in a time when there is so much competition that any help this film could get would be appreciated.
The performances by the cast are all pretty good to stellar across the board. Viola Davis is clearly having the absolute time of her life, essentially playing a mad scientist and cackling all over this film. There are times when it feels like she might be in a completely different film, but she is always compelling to watch, and it's clear they told her that however over the top she could this role was going to be, take it and double it, and that's what we're getting. Rachel Zegler continues to prove why she is a rising star as Lucy Gray Baird. Her voice is powerful, and she knows how to put grit and emotion into each word while still sounding flawless. Tom Blyth does the best he can with a role that is rather limited. However, he shows promise as a young actor, and somewhere out there, the right director will come along with the right script and pull that star-making performance out of him–it's just not this one.
The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes isn't a bad time at the theater, and it is interesting to see how the character we know will become the villain descends into madness. It's about as close to a standalone as you can get for a prequel and could be enjoyed by someone who doesn't know anything about the franchise. However, the issues with the structure really kneecap the pacing, and there isn't any getting around how clunky the entire thing feels by the time it ends. The ending feels incredibly anticlimactic, like the entire thing just runs out of gas, even if the ending is interesting in the way it plays out. This probably won't be the monster hit that anyone involved wants it to be, but it will likely show there are still plenty of fans interested in this universe, and between this and the book sales, author Suzanne Collins would absolutely have an audience should she decide to return.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes
6.5/10
The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes stumbles in adaptation from book to film primarily in the structure, and while it also runs a little too long, it's not a bad return to this world.
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