Three years of sitting on the edges of our seats in movie theaters watching the Hunger Games, until the excitement just started to disappear. The expectations for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes were just too high.  

What’s the Hunger Games?

The Hunger Games is a book series that was all the rage in the early 2000s with its dark and action packed writing. It was four books long and made into five movies (The third book Mockingjay was made into two parts). The newest movie was about the prequel book. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes came out on November 17th. 

“I love the Hunger Games, I’ve been waiting for the prequel movie forever.” Said freshman Aubrey Long. 

How Did it Do?

This movie was highly anticipated because of how thrilling all the other Hunger Games movies were; however, this movie wasn’t a hit compared to the movies before it.  The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes made $300 million less than the prior movies in the franchise and achieved a disappointing rotten tomatoes score of 64%.  

“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was nothing special, it’s not like the rest of the Hunger Games movies,” said seventh grader Noah Daubney. “I really thought there would be a dramatic wow factor.”

What Can be Improved?

Too many aspects of the book were crammed into the movie and the conclusion felt abrupt, even after two and half hours. The plot dragged on, jumping from one thing to the next. The movie could’ve provided new things, but it mainly just stuck with the book. There were still parts of excitement and action, but the final scene turned out to be a little anticlimactic.

“The movie was fine but it just got kind of boring as it went on,” said sophomore Samih Daubney. 

What Was Good About the Movie?

Fans definitely enjoyed the casting, which starred Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray and Tom Blyth as President Snow. With Zegler’s singing and Blyth’s expressions, they both brought their characters to life. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a necessary addition to the rest of the movies as it explains why President Snow became the way he was, and there are some points of the movie that you can relate to the prior Hunger Games movies. 

“I enjoyed the movie because of how it showed the backstory of President Snow.” Said freshman Leo Lopes. “ I thought it was really interesting to see him before he went crazy with power.”