2023-11-09 21:05:38
There is a problem with the origin stories of already known sagas: We know how they will end. It does not matter what happens, but how it happens, the path that will lead the hero to become a villain, or vice versa, subtracting part of the emotion of any story by stripping it of the capacity for surprise, making the cancellation of the spoiler its reason for be. Furthermore, no matter how much of an origin story it is, it is forced to also feel like part of the saga and share elements with the films that the public has already seen so that they do not feel like a simple money grabber. It’s not easy, but ‘The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ is pretty sure it’s squared the circle. And if. But definitely not.
Television marketing
The prequel to ‘The Hunger Games’ has a serious problem that it cannot avoid: it aims to be a dark story of betrayal narrating the introduction to the dark side of Coriolanus Snow, but, at the same time, also an entertaining saja-raja in the games that we all know. And the final result leaves the aftertaste of being two different films put together in a bad way. During the first two acts we see the massacre from a different perspective than what the first four films accustomed us to, but After the climax, the tone and the story take a too radical skid. It is not difficult for the confused viewer to wonder how it is possible that there are still 45 minutes left.
And it’s a shame, because, really, the two parts that make up ‘The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ (although the film is divided into three) They could stand on their own. None of them are perfect, but they are capable of introducing unique moments and concepts in the series, such as the use of marketing linked to a live program where children kill each other or the naïve good deeds of the good children of the Panem Capitolvery consistent with our current situation and full of better intentions than actions.
But this prequel can never completely shake off the semblance and appearance of its existence as a derivative product. It already was in its literary version, mind you. But, as such, those responsible seem more concerned with keeping the fan base entertained by throwing bones at them (that conversation with reference to the mockingjays and the Katniss plant) than with giving shape and reality to a world molded based on a script: the characters , in its final part, they make decisions far from their personality and they come across each other with forced blows, without giving the film time to breathe or allowing the viewer to understand the reason for the lurches. It’s two and a half hours, yes, but paradoxically it feels rushed.
Too little songbird, too much ballad
The producers knew exactly what they were doing when they signed Rachel Zegler as the new face of the franchise: to have a solvent actress who also sings like angels. And, rather than taking advantage of it, they overexploit it. Lucy Gray, her character, solves everything by singing. At times it is very exciting, at other times it is a very intelligent script mechanism… and at other times you can tell that they simply wanted to have one more song to see if the flute plays at the Oscars. She sings wonderfully, but the need for the film’s marketing It turns an initially functional resource into a repetitive and tedious mechanism.
Because, ultimately, this beginning of ‘The Hunger Games’ is aware of two things: that it is a purely commercial product and that it is absolutely unnecessary. And knowing his weaknesses, he is able to build from there. Because yes, you can be commercial, unnecessary and, at the same time, pose interesting ideas or show your own charisma and style. Francis Lawrence, the director of the three previous films, is capable of transforming what could be a cheap version of those in an interesting work By herself.
The director clearly rejects his image as a throwaway film, using the image to fly, getting fully into the hubbub of the games, involving the viewer and offer absolutely incredible shots (the one that starts the fight, for example). ‘The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ moves unconsciously between the lightness of a script that knows it will be incapable of transcending and a direction that confronts that transcendence directly. The result is a nonsense that has a hard time finding its middle ground between the idiotic and the moral, but when it does, it hits the nail on the head.
The pout and yum-yum games
When it shines with its own light, far from the ‘Battle Royale’ light atmosphere that has always accompanied the saga (we will not see a single drop of blood, replaced by an aseptic CGI intended not to cause even the slightest murmur of approval), it is when it can finally shine. The marketing lesson exploring how to re-attract the audience to the most sadistic program possible, the dreams of unattainable freedom far from Panem, daily life in the poorest districts, dissident voices, terrorism, the not-so-subtle class struggle or the importance of legacy.
But these interesting concepts They are minimized and suffocated in a sea of ideas that are much more prototypical, general and soporific.: family, love, the fight for individuality, entrenched hatred and, of course, the now classic fight for your own life. In the end, becomes a sad sea of scattered good ideas that provide as many moments of brilliance as tedium. If you just like to get carried away by an entertaining story, this new ‘Hunger Games’ has a lot to offer you, including a final part that raises fascinating ethical debates. But if you can’t help but be critical of what you see and point out its inconsistencies, this movie is going to drive you crazy.
In the end, the biggest sin of ‘The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ is its derivative condition, which prevents it from going beyond and explore the most interesting concepts of this previously unseen part of Panem. It is an epilogue, a farewell to this world that gets it right half the time, but can’t help but stumble, be imperfect, and function based on fortuitous strokes of effect. Of course, ultimately, it is one more film in the saga that fits seamlessly into continuity. It will be loved by die-hard fans, it will be a perfect entry for those who haven’t seen the previous ones and it will tire out those who are already fed up after the two parts of ‘Mockingjay’. I would love to talk about it in a different way because it has good points, but it dilutes its novelties in already known waters… and condemns it to its absolute irrelevance.
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