Last week a monumental piece of cinema hit theaters: “A Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes”. This movie was all I could think about over Thanksgiving break. But before I give my opinions on the movie, let me take you back to my middle school Hunger Games experience.
I never considered myself a reader, I had been in book clubs and read things for my English classes, but I never chose to pick up a book if I wasn’t told to. This all changed the summer before 8th grade, though. This was the summer I discovered “The Hunger Games”.
I had heard of the books before but never really expressed an interest in them enough to learn what they were about. However, this summer I had contracted poison ivy after sleeping over at Girl Scout camp and was in want of something new to distract me from my itchy skin. Then I stumbled upon the first Hunger Games book.
It only took me a few chapters to be completely hooked. After I finished the first novel, I made my mom drive me over to our nearest Barnes & Noble to buy the rest of the series. I consumed these at a rapid pace. Then I watched the movies, debated the casting of certain characters and the omission of other ones with my mother (who read the books at the same time as I did), and told any other person that didn’t read the books all about what they missed out on from the incredible series.
However, as much as I go on about what movies cut from their original sources, I found “The Hunger Games” movies to be great adaptations.
Then, in the midst of quarantine, Suzanne Collins decide it was time to drop another one of her masterpieces. Of course, I bought the book the minute it came out.
Originally, I had some mixed feelings about the book. I didn’t want to read about President Snow’s life, I wanted to read about Katniss and Peeta’s life after the games or get insight on some of the other victor’s games like Haymitch or Finnick, but that wasn’t what I got.
It was hard reading from Snow’s perspective because I already hated him but once I got into it I found it incredibly interesting how Collins was able to tie together parts from “The Hunger Games” series into Snow’s origin that made Katniss’s victory over him so much sweeter.
So, when the news broke that “A Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes” was becoming a movie too, I was so hyped. I knew whatever they made was going to be a certifiable masterpiece, and they didn’t disappoint.
I’ve seen this movie three times already and will probably see it again at some point. Yes, they left out some parts, like Clemensia’s fate or altered the demise of a few characters in the games, but I felt they did the book justice overall.
I thought the casting was amazing. Viola Davis really encapsulated Dr. Gaul’s deranged nature, Rachel Zegler really popped off with those vocals (I may have been tearing up during “The Old Therefore”), and Josh Andrés Rivera’s Sejanus was as tragic as ever.
However, I think Tom Blyth’s portrayal of Snow was SO GOOD. His charisma and good looks made you want to root for him, even though you knew his true nature. He was so good that you’d view Dean Highbottom as the villain for trying to thwart Snow’s success at every turn, when, in reality, Highbottom was the one who was actually the good guy. Tom also did a wonderful job at capturing that deranged look in Snows eyes at certain points in the movie, especially at the end.
Now, my feed on TikTok and Instagram is full of people dissecting the Hunger Games universe and fan edits of some of the characters. I feel like I’ve been transported back in time to middle school, but I’m living for it.
My final ranking of all the movies would be: “Catching Fire”, “The Hunger Games”, “A Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes”, “Mockingjay, Part 2”, and “Mockingjay, Part 1”. I have seen some people rank “A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” higher, but I think “The Hunger Games” is a classic, and “Catching Fire” just could never be topped (if you think otherwise, you are absolutely wrong).
And if you haven’t seen this movie yet, what are you still doing reading this? Get over to your nearest theater ASAP and watch this masterpiece.