Posted by Ever since the last time we saw Katniss take down Snow and the Capitol we always wondered when next we would see a Hunger Games movie. The Hunger Games series was an epic run, with every installment keeping us on our toes and filled with anxiety amongst so many other emotions, and they delivered every single time. We might never get to see Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss again but we can expect more Hunger Games, and the new prequel movie: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes gives us just that.
The new movie starring Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Burn Gorman, Hunter Schafer, and many more gives us a look at what young President Coriolanus Snow was like before he was President Snow. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is set decades before the events of Katniss Everdeen’s Hunger Games, highlighting one of the first Hunger Games (the 10th to be precise).
We see Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray who is put under the care of young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) for him to groom and mentor for the Hunger Games. According to Dean Casca Highbottom, the creator of the Hunger Games, Snow was supposed to mentor her into becoming a spectacle for the games but it looks like they develop feelings for each other and he’s unable to go through with it. Viola Davis stars as Dr. Volumnia Gaul and looks as devious and wicked as anyone can get.
The goal of the movie, and possibly future sequels to it or installments, is to show us how Snow slowly changed from someone who still had some sort of empathy to who he was in the time of Katniss before he died. Expect vicious killing, nerve-wracking moments, and non-stop Hunger Games action. The Hunger Games are back and picked up right where it left off, only a couple of years back in time.
I just want to say that casting Peter Dinklage as Casca was absolutely fantastic, the man is a genius and such a captivating performer that you are forced to love whatever show or movie he is tied to. I don’t need to say anything about Viola Davis, there are not many people in the world of Hollywood that can do what she’s done and continues to do, over the years. It’s also great to see Rachel again after Shazam, and Tom Blyth looks every bit the part of Snow. I have high expectations for this, and I doubt they will disappoint.
It feels good to have the games back, however cruel they are. And we might possibly get a few more follow-ups after this. 2023 is going absolutely ballistic with the amount of top-tier cinema content it’s been feeding us and will continue to feed us. Peak Cinema is back ladies and gentlemen, it has never been a better time to be a movie/series enthusiast.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes releases on the 17th of November.