7.0
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Summary
64 years before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, Coriolanus Snow sees a chance for a change in fortunes when he mentors Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12.
Cast
Tom Blyth
Coriolanus Snow
Rachel Zegler
Lucy Gray Baird
Peter Dinklage
Dean Casca Highbottom
Jason Schwartzman
Lucky Flickerman
Hunter Schafer
Tigris
Josh Rivera
Sejanus Plinth
Viola Davis
Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Fionnula Flanagan
Grandma’am
Burn Gorman
Commander Hoff
Dexter Sol Ansell
Young Coriolanus
Rosa Gotzler
Young Tigris
Clemens Schick
Respectable Man
Ashley Liao
Clemensia Dovecote
Athena Strates
Persephone Price
Joshua Kantara
Gaius Breen
Amélie Hoeferle
Vipsania Sickle
Kaitlyn Akinpelumi
Domita Whimsiwick
Florian Burgkart
Hilarius Heavensbee
Ayomide Adegun
Pliny Harrington
Aaron Finn Schultz
Apollo Ring
Max Raphael
Festus Creed
Mekyas Mulugeta
Urban Canville
Emma Frieda Brüggler
Diana Ring
Yalany Marschner
Dennis Fling
Serena Oexle
Juno Phipps
Anni Baumann
Iphigenia Moss
Flora Thiemann
Livia Cardew
Zoë Renee
Lysistrata Vickers
Seyna Sylla
Io Jasper
Lilly Cooper
Arachne Crane
Aamer Husain
Felix Ravinstill
Aminata Lucia Yade Toscano
Palmyra Monty
Daniela Grubert
Mrs. Plinth
Michael Greco
Strabo Plinth
Levi Strasser
Florus Friend
Chieloka Jairus
Androcles Anderson
Tim Torok
Facet
Varvara Kanellakopoulou
Velvereen
Jerome Lance
Marcus
Mackenzie Lansing
Coral
Cooper Dillon
Mizzen
Hiroki Berrecloth
Treech
Irene Böhm
Lamina
Knox Gibson
Bobbin
Sofia Sanchez
Wovey
Luna Kuse
Brandy
Kjell Brutscheidt
Tanner
Dimitri Abold
Reaper
Luna Steeples
Dill
Nick Benson
Jessup
Marc Aden Gray
Mayor Lipp
Isobel Jesper Jones
Mayfair Lipp
Dakota Shapiro
Billy Taupe
Vaughan Reilly
Maude Ivory
Honor Gillies
Barb Azure
Eike Onyambu
Tam Amber
Cameron MacConomy
Capitol Camera Operator
Ghaith Saleh
Boy at Zoo
Riley Chung
Girl at Zoo
Denise Hansen
The Clerk
Scott Folan
Beanpole
Raphael Zari
Arlo Chance
Mona Vojacek Koper
Lil
Carl Spencer
Smiley
Konstantin Taffet
Clerk Carmine
George Somner
Spruce
Steven McMichael
District 12 Peacekeeper
Jonas Martens
Chant Leader (uncredited)
Kittipong Ace Cunjanagan
Hy (District 5 Tribute) (uncredited)
Kyra Reinert
Ginee (District 6 Tribute) (uncredited)
Samia Hofmann
Sol (District 5 Tribute) (uncredited)
Crew
Director
Francis Lawrence
Novel
Suzanne Collins
Screenplay
Michael Arndt
Screenplay
Michael Lesslie
Reviews
Geronimo1967
November 23, 2023
7
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.
Media
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$100,000,000.00
Revenue:
$337,371,917.00
Keywords
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