I think before I get into the nitty-gritty of this review, I feel like I should give this opinion: if you want to fully understand the genius that is Suzanne Collin’s young adult novel series, the Hunger Games, definitely read the books first. There’s a sense of depth that is given to the characters, their thoughts, feelings, and emotions that aren’t able to be expressed on the screen the way writing can.
If you haven’t seen A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (ABoSaS) from the Hunger Games series, here’s your chance to find another article before I get into the plot.
That being said: for the love of god, please stop thirsting over Coriolanus Snow. I understand that the actor, Tom Blyth is an attractive human, but lest we forget what the character had done in ABoSaS that seemed to be easily forgotten by the audience due to his looks:
Not only did Coriolanus kill Sejanus, his supposed best friend, who was not district born and already made him an outcast, but also goes on to become a peacekeeper (albeit, what seems to have been to see Lucy Gray and save his reputation), which have been lackeys for the antagonist up until this point. Corio’s sanity seems to slowly slip throughout the story, and we see what remains of him to become the President Snow we come to know within Katniss’ story.
The musical callbacks are also a great device that give opportunity to connect with the main storyline as well, such as when one of the Covey brings Lucy Gray some Katniss, an aquatic plant, also called swamp potato, and they play Katniss’ theme. The swamp potato, of course, became a joke because of the titular character, and also seems to begin the haunt that follows President Snow through the storyline.
Starting with the character of Lucy Gray is an essay in and of itself. A character draped in tragedy, as we hear in her song, “Nothing you can take from me,” when she’s picked for the reaping (which should be noted that singing during her reaping was an interesting choice in and of itself), where she talks about how her parents were taken from her, but her father’s name “is just a mystery,” these days. Finally, to have her also run to obscurity proved to be a powerful usage of her strong will, and how she was able to run from Coriolanus in the end to save herself.
Again, for those who have seen the movie, I highly advise reading the book, and for those who have only read the book, check out the movie.
Both of these, together, help to really paint the history of Panem, and how the world has changed during Snow’s time as the president of Panem. Much of the games, as Katniss comes to know them, end up being his work, seen from the barbaric practices they kept in place during the 10th games, and helps the audience better understand the world they had, in one instance watched crumble.
Suzannne Collins, you better be coming up with more, because we need more stories about Panem.
