 The Hunger Games is back, and it's better than ever. Better than ever. No, no, I was right the first time. We have a brand new Hunger Games film, seven or eight years in the making, with the Hunger Games, the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. And I saw it, and I'm gonna review it. The Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, terrible title, is a prequel to the aforementioned Hunger Games. That means no Katniss Everdeen. That means no Pita Bread. That means no Hamish. That means no Elfie Trinket. But our forecast does call for a whole lot of snow. That's right. Corralanus Snow is the main focus of this, not Cornelius, Corralanus. Because all the names in the Hunger Games books are dumb as fuck, so we have to continue that trend. I'm gonna put all my Elfie Trinkets out on the table for you, I feel like I owe that to you as a critic and fellow member of society. I really enjoy the Hunger Games books. The movies, they're pretty good too. They're pretty fun. First movie's a little rocky to start, but I think it really finds its way, especially with Catching Fire, still my favorite by far of the franchise. So when they announced the prequel book, I read it and I didn't like it. I don't care to watch a dissection of a villain. I don't wanna know what makes Hitler tick or how he fell in love with his gal. That's not interesting to me. And I didn't really care for the book because of it. That said, this movie is actually better than the book. At least for me personally. I like that I don't have to be in the head of snow, of Coralina's snow, so I'm not constantly listening to him in his mind bash on other people and how he's better than other people. And for that reason, he seems like a lot less of a douche. Now, this is kind of a Romeo and Juliet-esque love story, which also kind of soured me because again, I wish nothing but the worst on snow. Again, though, it kind of works here. The chemistry is very much there between our two leads. His love interest is a young woman from District 12 by the name Lucy Gray-Baird. Yeah, he's a capital guy. He's a capital boy born and raised. So he doesn't think very highly of these individuals. That is, until he's presented with an opportunity, actually really it's more of a mandate for him to get in the good graces of the game maker and those in higher positions of power at the capital. They've changed the way that things work over there at the capital, over at that high school weird thing that he's attending. The capital offers a grant every year, a scholarship of sorts that comes with a lot of prestige, a lot of money. I forgot the name, the Pelham Grant, the Prim Grant probably, it's probably the Prim Grant based off of Katniss Everdeen's sister. It's not that, I'm just being a little bitch. I forgot the name, it doesn't matter. He wants this thing because his family, who used to be very impressive, his dad actually helped forge the Hunger Games back in the Diz. They fell on hard times after he passed. The money is dried up, the estate is essentially thrown into ruin and Snow is just trying to pick up the pieces. And in order to do so, that means he has to really impress everybody that's above him and that's a lot of people, unfortunately, he's gonna have to climb the ladder. And he's gonna do this by focusing on this young woman, this gray from District 12. But along the way, this songbird's really gonna win his heart, his affections and catches eye. It's kind of all the same thing said in different ways. Our Lucy's played by Rachel Zegler, who in the future is gonna be playing our new Snow White in the live action Disney flick. Snow White, famously known for having tan skin. Disney's just knocking it out of the park with these casting choices. To be fair, Rachel can sing like no other. She has the voice of an angel and they're gonna use that voice, kind of a nauseam in this film. We get five or six songs in this thing. At some point you're gonna be thinking, that's maybe enough, that's maybe enough singing. I don't need to hear hanging tree for the third time, all right, let's cut one of those renditions and cut they probably should have because this movie is two hours and 30 some minutes. It's two hours and 30 some minutes and change. That's too long. And this is the worst Hunger Games film, unfortunately, but it always was gonna be for me because I don't care for this story. Again, it comes with a caveat. I do think, and my daughter saw this as well, this isn't a bad movie. It is entertaining. It does have enough there to keep the momentum, to keep you interested. I would never sit through this again. That would kind of be torture. But for a one-time watch, it's not too shabby. There is intrigue. There's enough clever plays on some of the things from the original but it really is kind of its own as well. I like that Rachel Zegger's character is the polar opposite of Katniss. She's not good at hunting. She's not strong. She's a tiny little thing. She's not a scrapper. She's a singer. She's a traveling musician. So she's really gonna have to come up with a different way. So she's really gonna have to come up with a different way and really use snow to win this thing or escape alive. This film also stars Peter Dinklage and Viola Davis who are trying their best to out ham each other in their roles. I don't mean that as a negative. I found both of the characters very fun. Very over the top. And you can tell they're having a good time with these roles. As far as the love story goes, it's thankfully not shove down our throats. It's not the majority of the movie that the trailers would have you believe. It's there. I think it works well. Both the characters have good chemistry. This movie feels the most Disney out of all the Hunger Games films though, for some reason, especially in the first half. There's a lot of colorful clothing and garments being worn by not just the Capitol. That's expected. But by the districts, it feels like we're walking out of a Disney afternoon show. I just kept thinking, these people are supposed to be poor? Their clothes are, I'm wearing a Goonies Tee from like eight years ago. That woman's got on some fancy ass dress. No, I don't know. No, sir, I don't buy it. And come on, Rachel Zegler. Her teeth are perfectly straight, pearly white. Could we rough it up a little bit? Could we slap a little bit of dirt on her face? I mean, come on. As far as the action goes, this has a leg up on maybe the first Hunger Games, but definitely not the sequels. This is by the same director who did everything but the first film. So I really like his style. I like his approach to these things. Again though, there is something about this one that's off. Not just the clothing, but the way this one's filmed as far as the digital sets. It feels very fake at times. Much more so than the originals. I didn't hate this. I didn't love this. It's a fine two and a half hour movie, one time watch, walk away. I could do more of them in the future. I'm not like super jazzed for another song, Birds and Snakes. At the same time, I won't dismiss it outright. This is not a bad entry. It's just not anything that special. Okay, well, those are my thoughts on the Hunger Games. The Ballad of Song, Birds and Snakes. That title sucks. Let me know if you saw this film or if you're planning on seeing it, what you thought about it. Is this your favorite, least favorite as well? Where are you sitting? Prequels, oftentimes, just not that great. At best, they're competently done, but they never seem to jump ahead of the originals. And I think that's the case here as well. Let me know. Please like the video if you liked the video. Subscribe if you haven't. I post tons of movie content each and every week. I would love to have you stick around. And if you really love what I'm doing, I have a Patreon. Patreon.com slash Adam Does Movies. Or you can become a member right here on YouTube via that join button. You just hit it. And there's all these offerings and presents at your disposal, lots of exclusive videos, little icon badges, things. It's a good time. We'd love to have more support as this is a one-man operation. I'm basically snow over here trying to climb the ranks within YouTube. This is probably not the best person to compare myself to. But I can't sing, so I'm no Rachel Zegler either. And I'm too white to be snow white. Okay, I said enough. Thanks for watching. Take care.