A lengthy ‘Ballad’ makes the Hunger Games’ top villain even more complicated
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
“The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes” is a different kind of Hunger Games movie, and it definitely has a different feel than the original series of movies. As it should; it’s a prequel movie after all.
If anything, that prequel, showing Panem in its infancy (there are modern cars! Driving on the ground!), is a breath of fresh air from its original source material, allowing for more modern, realistic conflicts. It also shows President Snow as a young adult, before his full ascent to evil.
Snow, played by actor Tom Blyth, isn’t portrayed as a clean protagonist at any point during the movie. He’s young, he’s good looking and he seemingly has a bright future ahead of him despite some early life traumas. But at many points, he’s quite naive, very much unlike the man he would ultimately become over the six decades that followed. In the ultimate twist of irony, he himself is drafted into mentorship for the 10th annual Hunger Games, and falls for his District 12 tribute, Lucy Gray.
He falls so hard for her, in fact, that he actively cheats to help her win the games, and is punished harshly for his troubles by those in power of Panem. He gets sent to District 12 (another twist of irony in a movie quite full of ironic Easter Eggs), the district he would later destroy to send a message to the person who would end up bringing him down, Katniss Everdeen.
A stellar cast, including Viola Davis as Head Gamemaker Veronica Gaul, round out the film and help it stand apart from the original series. Despite the movie’s long length (it clocks in at 157 minutes), one can’t help but want to spend more time with some of these characters and in this old time version of Panem. But the truth of the matter is that this story is complete, and there’s no need for another one. We see the effects that Snow would have through his life begin here: his ideas for how to make the Games more appealing are taken into consideration and used, and his penchant for poisoning people even begins in the closing minutes of the film. We may not ever see Snow’s rise to power on screen, but we don’t really need to.
“The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes” is an intriguing addition to the Hunger Games universe, and faithfully and fully adapts its source book by Suzzane Collins. It’s a movie solely made for longtime fans of the franchise, but even those not familiar with the original series in any way may still find enjoyment in watching what unfolds.
