There were two factors that made me question the necessity of "The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" beforehand: Firstly, it's a prequel, and secondly, it's also an origin story for a villain. These are both things that often make the plot more predictable than it should be because you know exactly where the journey is going. Even though this is also true in this Hunger Games prequel, I nevertheless quite enjoyed the movie overall. Panem is an interesting world. Because the action here takes place shortly after the war, you learn many reasons for the state of the world 64 years later. The eponymous "Hunger Games" are also very different from what we've seen before. Here they are much more scaled-back, grittier, and somehow also more brutal.

The casting of the main characters is also very successful. Tom Blyth is quite convincing as the future dictator Coriolanus Snow; above all, he manages to let the cool, calculating, and dangerous nature of his character shine through from the very beginning. Particularly strong, however, is Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird. Recently, there has been some very strange online hate against Zegler, but personally, I've found her good in everything I've seen her in. In "The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes", it's not just her acting talent that's required, but above all her enormous vocal skills, and she masters the task effortlessly. Of the rest of the cast, I would also single out Viola Davis, who, as Head Gamemaker, puts her stamp on every scene she's in.

Now, this all sounds pretty positive, but unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the last third of the movie as much. While the first third manages to introduce the characters very efficiently and the actual "Hunger Games" take place in the second third, the movie loses all momentum in the final act. Naturally, the characters had to be positioned so that they fit into the previously known story, which brings us back to the disadvantages of a prequel. Overall, however, I stick to my recommendation for the movie, even if the ending is perhaps a bit disappointing.

Not having been particularly obsessed with the Hunger Games franchise in the past, I was very surprised at how excited the promotion actually got me for the movie... which sometimes is to the detriment of a production when people go in with too high expectations. This also should just not have been that great of a movie, considering it’s a prequel to a 4-part (movie) franchise from a decade ago; and most of these resurrections just don’t tend to hit the spot. They’re simply cash cows. Excuse the pun, but the odds were not in its favor.

And despite all of that, my ass was sitting in that theater watching them [spoiler]land in that zoo cage together and watching the contrast between Lucy’s quickly growing trust in Snow and the other tributes with their mentors,[/spoiler] and they had me gagged just like that.

I genuinely think Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler’s friendship played an essential part in this movie. That is not to say they aren’t also simply super talented; there are just so many movies with household name actors that just don’t make you feel anything because the actors have zero chemistry. And these two just clearly worked really well together.

I look forward to seeing a lot more from Tom Blyth.

This movie was sooooo long and had way too much singing, a bunch of which was very cringey. The romance between Snow and Lucy wasn't believable at all and I guess Snow was just a total psychopath all along anyway, so maybe that part was intentional. Anyway, it was all pretty boring and the actual "hunger games" in this one were really lame and uninspired. I don't recommend putting this ham on your face.

I was thoroughly enjoying this... until it absolutely nosedives during the latter half.

'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes' starts off so strongly, continuing at a pleasant pace as it encompasses the Hunger Games itself. However, from the end of the event it truly does drop off a cliff out of nowhere. The film gives you a major high of action with the games, then drops the tempo down to such a slow first act-esque pace that it feels extremely tacked on.

I did enjoy the cast throughout, mostly. Tom Blyth is excellent, first time I've seen him properly in a film and I was very impressed; though even his performance suffers with the aforementioned, which for him is from the point that he becomes The Real Slim Shady, seemingly (his originally look is so much better). Still, I'm eager to see that guy act further.

Rachel Zegler is largely good, though does chew the scenery quite a bit in parts; predominantly when singing. Viola Davis is great, while Peter Dinklage is underused but still a positive. Jason Schwartzman and Josh Andrés Rivera, meanwhile, are solid enough supports.

Just a shame about the final act. It's not necessarily that bad in itself, but to lower the pace that sharply after such prolonged thrill is a recipe for disaster. So much so that it makes the whole part drag hard, or perhaps 'twas just so for me?

I couldn't help wondering if Francis Lawrence had just asked for that "Tom fella..." "You know..." The casting director didn't realise he meant that "Tom fella" from "Harry Potter" and got Tom Blyth instead. There's an uncanny resemblance with the blonde floppy hair and the rather linear facial expressions. Indeed, despite a promising (if frustrating) shower scene at the top of the film, Blyth ("Coryo") is really what drags this otherwise quite decent action adventure film down. Rachel Zegler, on the other hand, is full of enthusiasm as her "Lucy Gray" character is selected to fight for District 12 in the "Hunger Games". Meantime, "Dean Highbottom" (the infrequently used Peter Dinklage) has come up with a way to spike the dwindling television ratings. He has decided to allocate one of his top students to mentor each of the captives. Yep - "Coryo" is put with "Lucy Gray". A bit of sabotage changes the nature of the game and gradually our hero starts to wonder if he is on the right side - especially when he becomes a little too emotionally involved with his protégé and attracts the enmity of his own erstwhile mentor. Luckily, the whole scenario is being overseen by the hammily menacing "Volumnia Gaul" (Viola Davis) who is clearly having a ball with industrial scale make up and a barrel of genetically modified snakes. The last twenty minutes smacks a little too much of sequel building, but this film has plenty of action and intrigue, loads of back-stabbing and just a little moralising. Zegler delivers a few folky style ballads confidently and generally does a lively enough job keeping it quite a bit better than I was expecting. It needs a cinema, though - the grand scale effects and photography work best that way. On the television it will probably just come across as a bit derivative.