I have to admit, I didn’t have the highest hopes for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I liked the book. It was a good story with compelling characters. But I had one big, major complaint: we didn’t need some tragic backstory for President Snow. Just let a bad guy be a bad guy simply because he’s a bad guy. We spent three books and four movies despising the man. Now you want us to have empathy for him? No thank you.
Thankfully, though, the movie adaptation takes a slightly different tone. The 18-year-old Coriolanus, or, Coryo, (Tom Blythe) is not the full-fledged villain we meet in The Hunger Games. But neither is he some completely innocent young adult who becomes totally radicalized in a 180 degree turn. He’s more morally ambiguous here. It’s not a perfect setup, but it’s better than the book. More importantly, though, is it’s good enough where it’s not a concern for the rest of the movie. And that allows the gripping story and strong cast to flourish.
Set 64 years before the main trilogy begins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes focuses on the events surrounding the lead-up to and the events and fallout of the 10th annual Hunger Games. Viewership and interest among the Capitol residents is fading, and the Capitol’s leadership is intent on finding a way to fix that. One such step is adding mentors to the Games, with each tribute being assigned a graduating student from the Capitol. Normally, the Capitol’s top students compete for the Plinth Prize, a huge financial prize given to the school’s top student. But this year, the award will instead be given to whoever is deemed the best mentor.
Coryo had placed all his hopes for his future on winning the Plinth Prize. A once-proud family, the Snows have fallen from grace, and Coryo, his grandmother (Fionnula Flanagan) and cousin Tigris (Hunter Schafer) live together in near-poverty, barely scraping by on nothing more than their name. When Coryo is assigned District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), it seems like all hope is lost. But when Lucy Gray defiantly sings at the Reaping, Coryo sees an opportunity. Maybe he can leverage her spirit and vigor, her natural ability for showmanship to achieve the life he’s always wanted and thought he deserved.
Story and characters. That’s what any movie has to nail down, at a minimum, if it wants to be good. Everything else feeds off those two aspects, but without them, it’s a nearly impossible hill to climb. And The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has a great story and characters. It can be seen as a story of survival. Different types of survival, but survival nonetheless.
Coryo wants to do great things in the Capitol. And to do that, he needs to attend the prestigious Capitol University. And to attend the University, he needs money, which he doesn’t have. So he needs to win the Plinth Prize, something he can’t do without Lucy Gray. And Lucy Gray? She just wants to survive, literally. And to do that, she needs Coryo.
It makes the dynamics of their relationship very interesting. They are clearly drawn to each other, as something more than the assigned mentor-Tribute partnership. But it’s an uneasy trust. They both feel something for the other, but how can either fully trust that it’s real? But – at least until the Hunger Games are done – does it even matter if it’s real?
The push and pull here is really well done. And it’s punctuated by both Zegler and Blythe giving top notch performances. It sounds cliche, but they are both in total command of their characters. Zegler’s Lucy Gray is punchy and confident in public, but deep down she’s terrified. She toes that line perfectly. And Blythe’s Coriolanus is a tortured soul. He wants to be a Capitol citizen, through and through. But after meeting Lucy Gray, those loyalties are tested. Are the Hunger Games necessary? Are they completely disgusting and morally bankrupt? (Obviously, the answer to both questions is yes, but it’s interesting to see the character struggle with the questions).
But with Zegler and Blythe being as great as they are, they actually mask some of the character problems. Their chemistry is terrific, so you believe their connection when you see it play out. But you never fully understand the “why” behind it all. Yes, they’re both attractive, intelligent, charismatic. But The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes wants you to believe there’s even something more that naturally draws people to them. You see it with some of the other characters, those that each have respectively known for much longer, years longer in most cases.
But the instant connection between the two doesn’t quite track. More than that, the strength of that connection feels a bit much, even in such a heightened situation. And neither does the Capitol’s seemingly instant infatuation with Lucy Gray. Sure, her singing at the Reaping probably inspired some curiosity, but to the point that the citizens are immediately emotionally connected to her? Rooting for her to win the Hunger Games? It doesn’t fully come together.
The larger story helps cover up for some of those weaker aspects aspects. Just 10 years after winning the war against the Districts, the Capitol is still figuring out its post-war identity. The grandeur and opulence are there, but not quite to the extent we see in The Hunger Games. The “holier than thou” attitude is there, setting the table for the “us vs them” mentality.
But seeing these young people, barely adults, forced to grapple with such larger than life stakes makes for a gripping story. There’s the usual high school drama, but it’s contrasted against literal matters of life and death. Given what’s at play, and the general acceptance or apathy towards these travesties is as disgusting as it is engrossing.
But once again, it all comes back to Coryo and Lucy Gray. Their story carries the plot. The side characters and their arcs provide some nice window dressing, but The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes lives and dies with these two.
Unfortunately, the story does buckle a little under the weight of its huge 157 minute runtime. So much time is spent on the first two acts, that there’s not a lot of time left to fully flesh out the ending. It still mostly worked for me, but after seeing how well-constructed the first 2/3 or so of the movie was, it was a bit disappointing to see the finale somewhat rushed through. It doesn’t ruin or lessen what The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes achieved leading up to this point. But it’s enough to take it down from what potentially could have been a great movie.
The supporting cast is strong here too. Viola Davis is over the top as Head Gamemaker Dr. Gaul. In any other setting, she would stick out as campy or “too much” in a bad way. But in the world of Panem? It makes perfect sense. Jason Schwartzman as Lucky Flickerman, host of the Hunger Games television broadcast, is legitimately hilarious, cutting the tension and some of the more horrific moments with some great one-liners.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has a few flaws that hold it back from being great. But on the backs of two great, dynamic leads, and an intense, enthralling central plot, it’s a welcome addition to the larger Hunger Games universe.
Score: 84/100
