hunger games the ballad of songbirds and snakes review

Alright, so I went to see this new Hunger Games movie, the one about the songbirds and snakes. Heard it was a long one, near three hours they said. Wasn’t sure my old bones could handle it, but I went anyway.

First off, let me tell ya, it ain’t like them other Hunger Games movies with that girl, Katniss, was it? This one’s about a young fella, Snow, before he was all mean and president-like. You see him as a young lad, tryin’ to make somethin’ of himself. They make him mentor some girl from District 12 for the Hunger Games. District 12, always nothin’ but trouble, if you ask me.

• The movie, it’s long. Real long. Felt like I was sittin’ there forever.
• And the games themselves, they ain’t the whole story. They show ’em, sure, but there’s a lot more goin’ on besides. Mostly about this Snow kid and how he’s turnin’ into, well, a snake, I guess, like the title says.

Now, the director, he’s the same fella who made them other Hunger Games movies, the later ones. You’d think he’d know what he’s doin’, and I guess he does, kinda. But this one, it just felt… different. Not bad, necessarily, but not the same fire, you know? It was kinda slow in parts, like they was tryin’ to stretch it out to fill up all that time.

The girl from District 12, she was somethin’ else. Sang all the time, that one did. Like a songbird, I suppose. But her talkin’, it was strange. They said she was from District 12, but she sounded all fancy sometimes, then like a regular person other times. Didn’t make no sense to me. Reminded me of that time my grandson tried to talk all proper-like after watchin’ one of them fancy TV shows. Sounded just as silly.

They say this movie is based on a book, just like the others. Guess they ran outta stories about Katniss and decided to go back in time. Can’t say I blame ’em, gotta keep makin’ money somehow, right? But this one, it’s about how messed up the whole system is, how they make these kids fight each other. And how some folks, like Snow, they just get more messed up by it all.

There’s a lot of talkin’ in this movie. People schemin’ and plottin’. Reminded me of that time old man Jenkins tried to get his hands on the Widder Johnson’s land. Same kinda sneaky business goin’ on here. And the endin’, well, it sets things up for more, I reckon. Guess they ain’t done with this Hunger Games stuff yet. Probably make a whole bunch more movies if folks keep goin’ to see ‘em.

Overall, I’d say it was… alright. Not the best movie I ever seen, but not the worst neither. If you liked them other Hunger Games movies, you might like this one. Just be prepared to sit for a good long while. And don’t expect it to be exactly the same, ’cause it ain’t. It’s a different kinda story, about a different kinda person. A person who turns into a snake, just like the title says. And ain’t that always the way of things? The young and innocent turnin’ into somethin’ else entirely.

They said it was PG-13, but there was still some rough stuff in it. Kids killin’ kids, that ain’t right, no matter how you slice it. Made me think about my own grandkids, bless their hearts. Hope they never have to go through nothin’ like that.

So yeah, that’s my take on it. Long movie, lots of talkin’, some singin’, and a whole lotta schemin’. Go see it if you want, but don’t say I didn’t warn ya about the length. And that weird accent. That just stuck in my craw, it did. Like a burr under a saddle blanket. Annoyin’ as all get out. But hey, at least it gave me somethin’ to talk about, right?

Tags: [“The Hunger Games”, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”, “Movie Review”, “Francis Lawrence”, “Prequel”, “Suzanne Collins”, “Panem”, “Coriolanus Snow”, “District 12”]