'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'
By Lana Witmer
The thrill, the love story, the suspense, and every feeling you can think of are shown in this movie to the extent that you feel a part of it.
I feel as though the casting was done very well. The protagonist, Lucy Gray, is played by Rachel Zegler. Her acting was phenomenal as well as her beautiful voice that helped the audience stay engaged. Not only do we have her but we get to see her act alongside Tom Blyth, a very talented actor who plays Snow. His acting is outstanding as he shows a field of emotions and makes you feel connected to the characters. There are also amazing actors throughout the movie that put the story together such as Hunter Schafer-Tigris Snow, Peter Dinklage-Casca Highbottom, Viola Davis-Dr. Volumnia Gaul.
This movie was very good. They did such an outstanding job with the cast and making the story truly come alive from the books. You will be overwhelmed with emotions from when your butt hits the seat to when you walk to your car. The emotions you'll feel while watching it will linger. However, I've heard a lot of people saying they prefer this movie over “The Hunger Games.” Personally, I still prefer “The Hunger Games” but that doesn’t take away from how much I liked this movie. I will definitely see this again and recommend this to everyone.
If you are a “Hunger Games”’ fan, you most likely know Snow. Snow is the president of Panem in the “original” “Hunger Games.” However, in this movie, we are taught about his past and upbringing that had turned him into the awful, wrong, despicable human being we know him as. In "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” we see him as an 18-year-old during the 10th annual Hunger Games. There are 24 of the top performing Academy students who were invited to be mentors to the people in the districts who were chosen to be a tribute. The students were meant to groom their tribute and make them the most likely to win games, whoever did the best job would receive a financial prize. Snow was directed to have Lucy Gray, a 16-year-old tribute from District 12. From the beginning, she seems to be different from the other tributes due to her singing as she gets called on stage as a tribute. Throughout the story there begins to be a love story between Snow and Lucy Gray, however; Snow shows his true colors on how his love for power is more important to him rather than Lucy Gray. Will Lucy Gray stay with Snow or realize his desire for power is more?
When looking at “The Hunger Games” and “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” there are a variety of similarities and differences. Obviously, there are a lot of differences seeing that the stories take place at different times. Considering there are some of the same people but younger and different actors, overall different people, the storyline is different, which leads to the actual Hunger Games. However, since the story leads up to the original Hunger Games some things are alike, including some of the same characters, and references that relate to the Hunger Games such as the Katniss reference.
Overall, I enjoyed the soundtrack of this movie. The song most people know from this movie is “Can’t Catch Me Now” by Olivia Rodrigo. Rodrigo is a well-known rising artist that many people love; she helped give the song more clout. However, throughout the whole movie, we hear the amazing Rachel Zegler sing many songs which is a blessing considering how beautiful her voice is.
Check out the soundtrack for the movie here: https://open.spotify.com/album/2yHTMVFGHODKJOjVL1hLgk?si=t8EZbrTbSw2nQuseqi2wYA
In the end, this movie was done very well and I think that everyone should see this movie. I fully believe that it is worth going to the movie theater to see the movie rather than wait for it to stream. This is one of the movies that you will be happy you got to be alive to see it in theaters.