The highly anticipated Hunger Games Prequel is making its debut on the big screen. The film stars West Side Story‘s Rachel Ziegler as Lucy Gray in the tenth annual Hunger games. This time there is a catch as founder, Dean Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage) wants to change things up to make audiences watch again. As he brings mentors into the picture for each tribute, Lucy Gray’s mentor is Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth). The objective is to create a show that audiences will want to watch, but Snow instantly develops feelings for the tribute instead which creates a show bigger than Highbottom could imagine.
All in all, Songbirds and Snakes creates a unique picture of what the hunger games is in a rough unedited version that shows, the tributes in an arena as opposed to another uncharted world as the original predicted. We see turnstyles and gates to keep the tributes in and spectators out, which is an interesting take in its self. Additionally, following the book by Suzanne Collins, the movie is divided into three parts, amplifying the progress the Coriolanus makes from “The Mentor”, to “The Prize” and finally “The Peacekeeper”.
Also one must give special recognition to Ziegler, who performs exceptionally given her powerful song telling. She definitely has the voice to carry a powerful singing career especially when it comes to musical dramas. Additionally Blyth does an exceptional job of making audiences fall in love with the man that would eventually be the enemy in the original Hunger Games Saga. The last two actors both Dinklage as well as Viola Davis as the current leader of the capital does an equally exceptional job of capturing the same Hunger Game charm, with a bit of a rawness in its early stages of the show.
That being said, The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes will have you diving deeper into what the Hunger Games are and better yet, what the Hunger Games are for. The prequel came out in theaters November 17th and is currently playing in one near you.