Critics (Mostly) Sing the Praises of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

It sounds like The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a worthy tribute to the young adult dystopian saga. According to critics who have screened the prequel to the original film series that starred Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, Songbirds and Snakes is a welcome return to the arena, where a young Coriolanus "Coryo" Snow (Tom Blyth) mentors District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler). The first reviews arrived online Thursday, and critics seem to agree that Blyth and Zegler are compelling leads — even if the fifth Hunger Games movie doesn't quite catch fire like the Katniss Everdeen era.

"Zegler captures Lucy Gray's effortless charisma from the book while also perfectly portraying the deep fear and anger that comes with being a tribute in the Hunger Games," says Jamie Jirak in ComicBook's review. "Blyth also deserves praise for taking on the role of Snow, which is no easy feat when you're following in the footsteps of a legend like Donald Sutherland." Standouts include Viola Davis as the demented Dr. Volumnia Gaul, head gamemaker of the 10th Hunger Games, and Peter Dinklage as the Academy Dean Casca "Cas" Highbottom.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the Hunger Games prequel currently sits at 63% "fresh" on the Tomatometer. That's a franchise-low, trailing 2012's The Hunger Games (84%), 2023's Catching Fire (90%), 2014's Mockingjay, Part 1 (70%) and 2015's Mockingjay, Part 2 (also 70%).

IndieWire: "Significantly more intimate and grounded than the previous Hunger Games movies (despite being longer than any of them and responsible for seeding all of their lore), The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is the rare prequel that manages to stand on its own two feet and still feel taller than the other stories it's ultimately meant to support ... the biggest reason why this movie sings is because Rachel Zegler is in it as Lucy Gray Baird. A star playing a star, the West Side Story ingénue delivers a mega-wattage encore as the female tribute selected from District 1." 

Variety: "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes feels like a natural extension of the saga, balancing blood sport, endangered young love and a heightened level of political commentary that respects the intelligence of young audiences as only [Hunger Games author Suzanne] Collins can ... As Lucy Gray Baird, West Side Story star Rachel Zegler represents a cross between Jennifer Lawrence's selfless hero, Katniss Everdeen, from the original films; the beguiling Gypsy Esmeralda of Victor Hugo's imagination; and a pop icon like Taylor Swift, who brings people together. Her songs are the highlight of a movie that's half an hour too long and frustratingly unclear in the final stretch. Then again, Hollywood has long since decided that audiences like their blockbusters bloated, and Ballad is but the latest to overdeliver."

The Hollywood Reporter: "Beyond the fact that Collins penned a 2020 follow-up set 64 years before the events of the original book trilogy, and of course the market reality that Hollywood never met a dystopian cash cow it couldn't milk to death, there are few compelling reasons for the new installment to exist ... If only there were something truly new and innovative about this chapter to fully justify resurrecting the Hunger Games franchise eight years after Mockingjay — Part 2."

The Associated Press: "Francis Lawrence's prequel often wobbles, especially in the early going. And yet, in the end, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, propelled by Blyth's performance, manages to be the deepest expression yet of the series' melodrama of adolescence. In Panem, the only thing more tragic than the suffering inflicted by adults on the young may be a bright kid warping wickedly into one of those elders, too."

The Guardian: "It's easy to lose the will to live halfway through the title, never mind the actual film – in all its exhausting, convoluted silliness. This is a pointless new iteration of IP content from the Hunger Games franchise... the interest, dramatic momentum and energy have frankly expired, and all we have are the ridiculous outfits, the hallucinatory hairstyles, the zero-suspense action sequences, the standard-issue CGI cityscapes, the non-satirical flourishes about media control and Rachel Zegler (in what is effectively the Katniss role) doing a frankly bizarre suth'n accent in an eccentrically designed country-music-star dress, in her picturesque itinerant poverty, singing her down-home ballads while strumming a guitar which looks as expensive as a Lamborghini."

Mashable: "Zegler is outstanding as Lucy Gray, taking the role of District 12 tribute and making it her own. Plus, there's no beating her gorgeous voice, which brings District 12 songs like 'The Hanging Tree' to vibrant, folksy life ... The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is captivating through and through, capturing the magic that made The Hunger Games such a sensation while delivering a darker, more nuanced look at the corruption at the heart of Panem."

USA Today: "Imagine if The Phantom Menace was better than every episode of George Lucas' original Star Wars trilogy. Kind of bonkers to think about, right? But that's pretty much the situation with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, an enticing blend of dystopian action epic and musical drama that surpasses the previous films starring Jennifer Lawrence."

The official synopsis: "Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-years-old Coriolanus Snow is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, the girls tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem's attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony. Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy's race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake."

Starring Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, Jason Schwartzman, and Viola Davis, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes opens in theaters November 17.