When it comes to books series for kids and teens, the 2000s had a lot of great options that went on to become movies as well. One of the most popular of these was “The Hunger Games.” “The Hunger Games”, written by Suzanne Collins, follows Katniss Everdeen as she tries to survive the Hunger Games, which takes place in her world of Panem. The hunger games require one boy and one girl from each of the districts into which Panem is divided, to compete in several events until there is only one competitor left standing. The main series consists of three books, each of which has a story that will leave fans wondering what happens next.
All three books have movie adaptations that are just as popular and loved by fans. The author even wrote a prequel to the series; it was released in 2020. On November 17th the prequel to “The Hunger Games”, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” was released in theaters.
Beware potential spoilers!
The movie follows Coriolanus Snow before he becomes the president of Panem and goes to university in the capital. He becomes a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, who was chosen to compete in the Hunger Games as the tribute for District 12. The two form an unlikely bond over the course of time that they work together. Snow suggests that for the tribute interview Lucy should sing since she is a member of the Covey band back in District 12, and because she shocked everyone by singing at The Reaping, which is when the Tributes for the games are chosen. Her talent gets a lot of people to watch The Hunger Games, but also makes the other players not like her as she is well loved by the people of Panem. Because of this, she decides to hide in the tunnels beneath the arena until there are only a few left, and ends up winning the game. After the games Lucy goes back to District 12, and Snow gets assigned as a peacekeeper in one of the higher districts, however, Snow asks to go to District 12 instead, in hopes of seeing Lucy Gray again. The two meet up again, and, after a series of unfortunate events, the two decide to leave Panem together. After walking in the forest, Lucy Gray becomes suspicious of Snow’s behavior and decides to leave him and runs off into the woods. Something happens that will leave fans wondering even after they finish watching the movie.
The cast in this movie does a great job of bringing the story to life. Rachel Zegler plays Lucy Gray and also does a great job of bringing the songs from the book to life as well as the character. Tom Blyth plays young president Snow, Hunter Schafer plays a young Tigris Snow, Peter Dinklage plays the creator of the games, and Viola Davis plays Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the Game Maker of the 10th Hunger Games, and the main antagonist of the story.
The movie also has cool moments that harken back to the original “Hunger Games” movies and books, such as the forest in which Katniss hunts for animals. This forest is featured at the beginning of the first “Hunger Games” movie and is the same forest at the end of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”. Some other references to the original series are when Lucy Gray leaves Snow and says she is going to pick a plant called “katniss”, which is also the name of the main character in the original series. There are also mockingjays in the movie, which are birds in the world of Panem, which become a big part of the rebellion against the capital and Snow in the original story with Katniss Everdeen is the leader and the birds as the symbol for the rebellion. Another thing used in the rebellion is the song “The Hanging Tree” because in the prequel it is revealed that Lucy Gray was the one who wrote the song.
“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” brings viewers right back to Panem with an amazing cast and great storyline. This prequel is an amazing follow up to the original ‘Hunger Games’ series.
