‘The Hunger Games: The Song of Birds and Snakes’ is an irregular return to dystopia; g1 already seen

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Film shows youth of the villain of the original saga. Tom Blyth, who plays the protagonist, Rachel Zegler and Viola Davis are the highlights of the cast. The wave of adaptations of books that show dystopian universes for cinema seemed to have passed, as a new production of this style had not been announced for a few years. However, the “Hunger Games” franchise still generated some interest thanks to the four films starring Jennifer Lawrence. So it’s not exactly a surprise that Hollywood returns to the universe of Suzanne Collins’ books with “The Hunger Games: A Song of Birds and Snakes.” The film, which premieres this Wednesday (15), does not continue the story of the heroine played by the actress (nor does it feature her). The adaptation of the book of the same name is really interested in the villain of the original plot, six decades before he became the cruel tyrant of the work. “The song of birds and snakes” has good action and combat scenes, just the way fans of the franchise like it, an interesting art direction and costumes and a very competent cast. But it stumbles upon a problematic script and editing, which harm the result. Watch the trailer for ‘The Hunger Games – A Song of Birds and Snakes’ Set about 60 years before the events of the previous films, the plot shows Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) at age 18, when he was a good university student. He is chosen to tutor one of the young people selected from different districts to compete in the Hunger Games, which are in their tenth edition and are facing audience problems. Snow then has to take care of Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a young woman selected as a tribute from District 12, to compete in the Games. Little by little, the guardian begins to worry more and more about her and does everything he can to make sure she survives the bloody dispute. This catches the attention of Dean Highbottom (Peter Dinklage), creator of the event, and, mainly, of Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis), coordinator of the tenth edition. But a series of twists and turns cause Snow to begin to discover his true nature. Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) in a scene from ‘The Hunger Games: A Song of Birds and Snakes’ Disclosure Hello, cruel world The great merit of “The Hunger Games: A Song of Birds and Snakes” is to show, albeit in an allegorical way, how human beings feel pleasure in seeing people participating in disputes, whether they are young or older, especially in reality shows. The issue permeates all of the films in the franchise. In this feature film, this is explored a little better, based on the argument that, to improve the program’s audience, tutors need to create strategies to captivate the public more, for the sake of “fun”. This is one of the highlights of the script, co-written by the author of the books herself, Suzanne Collins, Michael Leslie (from “Assasin’s Creed”) and Michael Arndt (winner of the 2006 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for “Little Miss Sunshine”), which It also stands out for showing the ambiguity of its characters well. Some may have good intentions, but under pressure, they show their true colors. Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) is chosen as a tribute in ‘The Hunger Games: The Song of Birds and Snakes’ Disclosure Another highlight in the film is the interesting art direction, which shows how the districts are impoverished, in reference to what happened to some countries that were devastated by the Second World War. The capital of Panem is also shown as a place that, despite trying to boast a certain glamour, has traces of coldness and decadence caused by conflicts, in a clear allusion to Nazi Germany. The direction of Francis Lawrence, who had already made the last three films in the franchise, manages to create a good atmosphere of tension in the Games’ confrontations, despite the special effects not being so good. They give an air of artificiality, which can take the viewer away from the plot on screen. The filmmaker also does a good job of developing the most dramatic and even romantic scenes. Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis) accompany the competition in ‘The Hunger Games: The Song of Birds and Serpents’ Disclosure Never-ending story (and singing) Even with all these qualities, “The Hunger Games: The Song of birds and snakes” has some errors that cannot be ignored. The main one is its inconstant rhythm, which alternates between dynamic moments and others that are too slow. Divided into three parts, the script does not achieve a good balance to develop the plot. It gives the impression that the final product is actually two films in one. Because of this, its two hours and 37 minutes in length become tiring and unnecessary. It is quite clear that a leaner edition, which cut between 30 and 50 minutes, would provide more dynamism and result in a better cinematic experience. As it turned out, only fans of the saga, both cinema and books, will feel satisfied with so many “dead” moments in the plot. The script also fails to make the characters commit senseless acts that do not match the profile created for them. A good example of this is Snow himself. Presented as someone intelligent and cunning, he is surprised by the repercussions of some decisions, in sequences so surreal that they make the character more foolish than he should be. Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) in a romantic moment in ‘The Hunger Games: A Song of Birds and Snakes’ Disclosure Not to mention the fact that, although Snow’s character change works well, the The film shows him as a good-hearted person for about 80% of the film, leaving only the final minutes to reveal his true nature. Thus, it is possible that the public may even have sympathy for him and forget that he is the greatest enemy of the original heroine decades later, Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence). A serious failure. Another problem is the lack of subtlety in inserting references from previous films, such as a scene with a flock of mockingbirds, the birds that symbolize the classic character. The resource turns out to be quite artificial and free. Furthermore, the film includes several musical moments, with songs performed most of the time by Rachel Zegler. The excessive singing (which includes the return of the song “The Hanging Tree”, from “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1”) seems out of place with the rest of the story and generates some embarrassing scenes, such as the one in which Zegler’s character is chosen to be the tribute from District 12. At least the song “Can’t catch me now”, performed by Olivia Rodrigo and which closes the film, is good. Mentors, tributes and mad scientists Despite these flaws, “The Hunger Games: The Song of Birds and Snakes” benefits from good casting. The little-known Blyth does not shy away from playing the young version of such an iconic character and played so well by Donald Sutherland and does a good construction of Coriolanus Snow, despite not always being helped by the script. He makes a good pair with Zegler, also very confident in his role, and the duo convinces as a couple much more than Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. Thanks to their good work, it’s not difficult to hope that the two have a happy ending. Viola Davis plays Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the great villain of ‘The Hunger Games: The Song of Birds and Snakes’ Disclosure It is also worth highlighting Dinklage’s good work as the ironic and sinister Dean Highbottom, who maintains a contradictory relationship with the protagonist . Hunter Schafer (from the series “Euphoria”) is fine as Tigris, Snow’s cousin who tries to keep her morals intact, although she appears little. The highlight of the cast is Viola Davis. The actress excels as the sadistic character, who takes pleasure in causing all kinds of pain to people, preferably with her experiments with animals as weapons. Aided by an extravagant costume, but consistent with the profile of the Hunger Games coordinator, Davis makes the villain stand out. “The Hunger Games: A Song of Birds and Snakes” is superior to the last film, released in 2015, and could even keep the franchise alive for future chapters. But it needs to get the rhythm and focus of the story better so it doesn’t feel like it’s shooting from all sides. Otherwise, it could end up like other dystopian sagas that have emerged in recent years: forgotten over time.

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