hunger games prequel review

Alright, so I went to see this new Hunger Games movie, the one they’re callin’ a “prequel,” you know, like before the other ones. Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, they call it. Sounds fancy, don’t it? But lemme tell ya, it ain’t all that complicated.

This fella, Coriolanus Snow – yeah, the mean old president from the other movies – he’s just a young fella here. A student, kinda. And they got this thing called the Hunger Games, but it’s not quite the same. See, it’s still kids fightin’ to the death, which is just plain wrong if you ask me, but it’s…different, somehow.

• They got these mentors, see? Like teachers, but for killin’. Snow, he gets this girl, Lucy Gray, from District 12. She’s a singer, real pretty thing, but tough as nails too.
• And this whole movie, it’s about them tryin’ to win the Games, but it’s also about Snow becomin’ the bad guy we all know. Which, you know, is kinda sad. Nobody starts out mean, I guess. Life just does things to ya.

Now, the movie, it’s long. Real long. Felt like sittin’ through a whole Sunday service and then some. And it’s got a lot of talkin’. People jabberin’ on and on about this and that. Politics, they call it. But mostly it’s about who’s gonna stab who in the back, both in the arena and out of it.

The games themselves, they ain’t as…fancy, I guess, as the ones in the other movies. More run-down lookin’. But that makes sense, I suppose, since this is supposed to be the early days. And the killin’, well, it’s still killin’. Hard to watch sometimes, even for an old woman like me who’s seen plenty in her life.

Rachel Zegler, she plays that Lucy Gray girl. She’s got a good voice, that one. Sings real nice. And Tom Blyth, he’s the young Snow. He’s alright, I guess. Kinda serious all the time, but then again, so was the old Snow. So, I guess he done a good job.

This director, Francis Lawrence, he done the other Hunger Games movies too. So, he knows what he’s doin’, I reckon. The movie looks good, real pretty in parts. But like I said, it’s awful long. And I ain’t sure I understand all that talkin’. Some of it went right over my head. But that’s alright, I’m just here for the story, ya know?

Overall, I’d say this Hunger Games movie is…okay. Not great, not terrible, just okay. If you liked the other ones, you might like this one. But if you ain’t seen the others, well, you might be a bit lost. It’s all about how this Snow fella turns bad, see? And how the Games themselves, they change too.

And let me tell you somethin’ about that Snow. He starts out thinkin’ he’s doin’ the right thing, but then he just keeps on choosin’ the wrong path. Reminds me of some folks I know, always makin’ excuses for their bad deeds. Power does funny things to people, I tell ya. Makes ‘em forget where they come from.

Now, they say this movie is based on a book. Suzanne Collins, she wrote it. Same lady who wrote the other ones. I ain’t much of a reader myself, never had the time for it, what with all the work I’ve done in my life. But I reckon she knows what she’s doin’. She created this whole world, this Panem place, with all its troubles.

And that’s what this movie is about, really. Troubles. The trouble with power, the trouble with love, the trouble with just tryin’ to survive in a world gone mad. And ain’t that the truth, eh? We all got our own troubles, one way or another. Just gotta keep on pushin’ through, I suppose. Like them kids in the arena. Only, hopefully, we don’t have to kill nobody to do it.

So, yeah, that’s my two cents on this Hunger Games prequel. Go see it if you want. Don’t see it if you don’t. Makes no difference to me. I’ve said my piece.

Tags: [Hunger Games, prequel, movie review, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Coriolanus Snow, Lucy Gray Baird, Suzanne Collins, Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Francis Lawrence]