Pretty good but pretty pointless, as well made but not as good as any of the other hungry games. Essentially a cash grab hidden in a good film. Some good performances though 3.5/5

Great movie. Hunger games never disappoint.

I was thoroughly enjoying this... until it absolutely nosedives during the latter half. 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes' starts off so strongly, continuing at a pleasant pace as it encompasses the Hunger Games itself. However, from the end of the event it truly does drop off a cliff out of nowhere. The film gives you a major high of action with the games, then drops the tempo down to such a slow first act-esque pace that it feels extremely tacked on. I did enjoy the cast throughout, mostly. Tom Blyth is excellent, first time I've seen him properly in a film and I was very impressed; though even his performance suffers with the aforementioned, which for him is from the point that he becomes The Real Slim Shady, seemingly (his originally look is so much better). Still, I'm eager to see that guy act further. Rachel Zegler is largely good, though does chew the scenery quite a bit in parts; predominantly when singing. Viola Davis is great, while Peter Dinklage is underused but still a positive. Jason Schwartzman and Josh Andrés Rivera, meanwhile, are solid enough supports. Just a shame about the final act. It's not necessarily that bad in itself, but to lower the pace that sharply after such prolonged thrill is a recipe for disaster. So much so that it makes the whole part drag hard, or perhaps 'twas just so for me?

This movie was sooooo long and had way too much singing, a bunch of which was very cringey. The romance between Snow and Lucy wasn't believable at all and I guess Snow was just a total psychopath all along anyway, so maybe that part was intentional. Anyway, it was all pretty boring and the actual "hunger games" in this one were really lame and uninspired. I don't recommend putting this ham on your face.

one of the best installments to the Hunger Games series. it’s definitely the darkest and most political entry to the saga. act III could have been more fleshed out, but it doesn’t detract from the story the film is telling. act III was the most compelling segments in aspects of Coriolanus Snow’s villain origins. if you're a fan of political dramas or a character study or just a huge fan of the Hunger Games series, this is the film for you. excellent casting, excellent music, and deliciously evil performances.

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.