‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ Suffers From ‘Mockingjay’s Biggest Mistake

The big picture

• The ballad of the birds and the snakes
  it suffers as a standalone film, with no time to fully develop complex characters and darker aspects.
• Splitting the story between the Games and Coriolanus' time in District 12 would have allowed for more in-depth exploration and a dramatic ending without such a jarring shift in tone.
• Coriolanus' character arc is rushed, lacking the development necessary for a compelling descent into villainy.

Eight years after the original series ended, the Hunger Games franchise returned with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Birds and the Snakeswho follows President Snow (Donald Sutherland) as a young man known as Coriolanus (Tom Blyth), which represents the tenth Hunger Games and features the only hitherto unknown winner of District 12, Lucy Gray (Rachel Zegler). That's a tall order for a single film, though Francis Lawrence decided not to split the story into different installments. After The Hunger Games: Mockingjay was split, it seems odd not to do that with the prequel, but Lawrence has since admitted that he regretted his choice to do so. two movies of a single book by Suzanne Collins. Reluctant to make the same mistake, The ballad of the birds and the snakes it became a standalone prequel and suffers for it. The difference is this division Mockingjay interrupted the momentum of the story. Katniss (jennifer lawrence) arc had already been developed during the first two films, which allowed the necessary parts of Mockingjaythe story of in a single film (by the way, long).

The ballad of the birds and the snakes it's different With a complex character backstory, the film is Coriolanus' only chance to be the lead. As Coriolanus becomes more like the president of the hunger gamesit takes time to show the process of his descent into wickedness, and The ballad of the birds and the snakes doesn't have that In addition, characters such as Lucy Gray and Dr. Gaul (Viola Davis) get less focus than they should because the film is pressed for time. This is also the case with the horrible game, which shows a different side of the tradition before the government turned it into a spectacle. With a clear division in the story when the tenth Hunger Games ends, it would make sense to split the story. Even though it's a single book, the novel has several parts that provide a natural break as it changes the setting from the Capitol to District 12, but the movie doesn't take advantage of that. The Hunger Games and the events leading up to them would easily fill a movie. Meanwhile, the conspiracy in District 12 and Coriolanus's eventual descent into villainy would be a dramatic finale, completing the character's arc without dragging the plot out unnecessarily.

Coriolanus took longer to develop in “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”

As the central character, Coriolanus goes on a journey throughout the film, going from a starving orphan with the trauma of living through war to a cold and manipulative leader who doesn't care how his actions affect others . Blyth certainly plays the part well as the film details this transition, but it has to be rushed to fit within the roughly two and a half hour time limit. The character arc of Coriolanus is not simple as he goes from being in it for himself to making friends to betraying those friends and achieving his original goal. Their disadvantages in the beginning develop sympathy, which is over in the end. Coriolanus may have the family name, but the Snows have no money and rely on their cousin, Tigris (Hunter Schafer). Coriolanus hides this fact, dreaming of getting the prize money from the Hunger Games mentoring program to pay for continuing education and thus be able to improve his family's life. All of this seems noble and completely different from the President, who is Katniss' antagonist. This trend continues as he befriends Sejanus (Josh Andres Rivera), who is despised by the Capitol families for being born in District 2. Sejanus' compassion pushes Coriolanus in the right direction, as does the influence of Lucy Gray, whom he begins to love.

However, the story not only includes him developing these friendships but also destroying them. He betrays Sejanus to gain the favor of Dr. Gaul and tries to kill Lucy Gray (although the jury is out on whether he succeeds). It's not until the end that she shows signs of being mean. In fact, at first, his move to District 12 seems to push him to be better. Whereas Katniss didn't need two Mockingjay movies to come to his final realization about corruption, Coriolanus could have used more time to corrupt himself. He basically goes through multiple character arcs, as he first chooses Lucy Gray over everything, helping her cheat in the Hunger Games, and then chooses himself by planning to kill her to hide his association with the murders of the District 12. Splitting them into separate movies would benefit. the character, giving the audience a chance to learn more about him and empathize with him before he succumbs to his own selfish desire for power.

“The Ballad of the Birds and the Serpents” could have expanded much further

With a cast of talented actors including Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage, many characters could have appeared more. Davis' Gaul is a good example, as its terrifying character is responsible for much of the titular games. But the character who needs the most time is Lucy Gray. Although she is only secondary to Coriolanus, Lucy Gray does not reach her full potential in the time allotted. The character is the first winner of the Hunger Games to capture the attention of the citizens of the Capitol, like Katniss herself. She may not be a particularly skilled fighter, but her determination helps her survive in the arena. Displaying many talents, Lucy Gray is the story's natural heroine. But the film goes through many elements, and our Víctora does not get the attention she deserves. One of the book's many changes is Lucy Gray's victory, becoming the snakes that kill the runner-up instead of manipulating and poisoning him, stripping him of his intelligence and determination to survive, which they are vital to the character. Lucy Gray needed more time to develop her relationship with Coriolanus and show what she was really capable of when it came to this.

Like Lucy Gray's victory, The ballad of the birds and the snakes reviews some of the darker aspects of Collins' book. While all the other Hunger Games movies that throw the characters into a setting spend most of their time showing The Hunger Games itself, The ballad of the birds and the snakes it doesn't And that's not because it's focused on Coriolanus, which isn't an homage, but because there's too much history to focus on the Games. This is the audience's first glimpse of the first Games before the spectacle of the event was used to hide its brutality, but the film doesn't highlight this aspect of the story as much as it could have. Reaper (Dimitri Abold), the District 11 Tribute, takes the time to align the fallen tributes, giving them respect, just as Katniss treated Rue (Amandla Stenberg) in their first matches. His monument stands all the time, as do the bodies of the dead children. This act is dangerously close to rebellion, which the film didn't have more time to explore, but it shows that others tried before Katniss. The whole concept is dark, especially without the Capitol going out of its way to make the Games into something they're not. The brutality during the Hunger Games didn't have the impact it could have if only the story and characters had more time in the spotlight.

'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' has a natural division

While The ballad of the birds and the snakes tells a story, there's a natural place to split the film: when the Hunger Games end and Coriolanus is banished to the Districts. All the other hunger games movies as well Mockingjay (which does not include the Games), ends with the culmination of the Hunger Games, but no The ballad of the birds and the snakes. Instead, this is just the first section of the plot. After the victory of Lucy Gray, there is a change in the story. The film transitions to Coriolanus' life as a peacemaker after his illegal assistance to Lucy Gray is discovered. Not only is this a completely different journey for Coriolanus, but the tone seems to change while enjoying life with Lucy Gray's Covey family, causing a distinct and abrupt change halfway through the film. This would provide a perfect place to end one movie and start another if they had split the story in two.

Not using this split is a missed opportunity. The Hunger Games and the events leading up to them, where Coriolanus promoted Lucy Gray to improve her standing in the arena, would have easily filled a two-hour movie. This would have given the story the freedom to better explore the events and horror of the Games. Similarly, Coriolanus' life in District 12 has a lot of material. From the introduction of the Covey to the rebel activity, there's a lot to cover as Coriolanus' arc comes to a close, and he decides to be the ruthless man we were introduced to in The Hunger Games. Even without the Games, this would have more than enough action, as Sejanus is hanged and Coriolanus kills Mayfair Lipp (Isobel Jesper Jones). And it would allow for a deeper exploration of Lucy Gray's story, which gets in the way when she and Coriolanus begin their relationship. While it's done Mockingjay two different films made little sense, to maintain The ballad of the birds and the snakes together was not ideal either. The prequel contains too much story to fit into one movieproving that there are reasons to split a book, but it won't work for everyone.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Birds and the Snakes is available to stream on STARZ in the US

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