We all knew another Hunger Games movie was coming. As early as 2011, Lionsgate execs were discussing spin-offs, and Suzanne Collins published The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in 2020. A movie adaptation was being discussed even before the book hit shelves, and the IP from one of the most popular YA fiction series of all time was no doubt looking extremely appealing to studios in the middle of the COVID-led crisis in moviegoing. 

Frankly, we also all knew it couldn't be that good. Collins' source material, while strong, always struggled in its transition to the silver screen. Although the big-arena spectacle of children murdering each other against the sci-fi background of a dystopian future United States had some easy appeal, the themes of the books never transferred to film as well as, say, that of Harry Potter. 

Thus, lo and behold, it's 2023 and we did receive another installment and it is only okay, which is the best it could be. 

The prequel introduces us to its antihero Coriolanus Snow — endearingly called "Coryo" (pronounced like the sandwich cookie) — first as a young boy in war-torn Panem and then as a young adult vying for the Plinth Prize, a scholarship at his Capitol school that would help his struggling family make ends meet after its military patriarch Crassus Snow was killed by rebels. 

Coryo and his fellow snobby Academy students are assigned tributes to mentor through the 10th Annual Hunger Games (a bare-bones early version of the enormous show that it's become decades later in the original trilogy). Coryo's is Lucy Gray Baird, a pretty, hard-headed young singer from District 12 (yes, that District 12). Despite her initial wariness, Lucy Gray warms up to Coryo thanks to his relatively warm displays of camaraderie (and a potential mutual crush). Some Capitol machinations ensue before the games begin, which Lucy Gray unsurprisingly survives with some help of Coryo and thick plot armor. The rest of the film follows as cracks appear in their budding relationship, and we slowly see the young Coryo molt into President Snow.

The film marks a return to the Hunger Games world for Francis Lawrence, who directed three of the four original movies, and actually retraces one of his biggest directorial missteps of that set. His much-maligned decision to split Mockingjay, the final book, into two movies was seen universally as a money grab, and years later he admitted regret for the choice. It's ironic, then, that Ballad feels too hasty in more ways than one. 

For example, English actor Tom Blyth is excellent (and handsome!) in a tough role as both a young heartthrob and a fascist-incel-in-training, but he's forced to switch between the two at a breakneck pace which leads his decisions and tone to be muddled after the Games end. Rachel Zegler is somewhat weaker as Lucy Gray Baird — she's expected to put on an Appalachian accent to play the itinerant tribute, which never looks or sounds natural coming out of her mouth — and is also done disservice by the film's attempts to cram as much as possible into the plot. Does she like Coryo or not? How much does she know, or suspect, of his malicious intents? What's her involvement in her home district's politics? We don't get great answers to any of these questions in the limited time we have. 

Weaker still are the backstories and decisions of supporting characters. Josh Andres Rivera is sympathetic as a rags-to-riches friend of Coryo's, but his character is fairly stupid and makes frustrating decisions for a supposed idealist. Viola Davis sports incredibly striking costume and makeup (from talented Trish Summerville and Tamar Aviv, respectively) , but her "evil mastermind" gamemaker is curiously short-sighted throughout. Peter Dinklage is the Academy dean who conveniently reveals that the inventor of the Hunger Games was not who we thought. (Yawn!) 

In fact, only Jason Schwartzman really shines; as Lucky Flickerman, the television host for the games and entertainment (and genetic) ancestor to Stanley Tucci's Caesar Flickerman from the original material, Schwartzman displays a wry indifference to the plight of the tributes, which when matched with his sideshow-charmer one-liners is great. And his level of prequel tie-in isn't too on-the-nose, as it is for some other plot points (like the wAtEr pOtAtO CaLLeD kAtNiSs). 

But a rushed plot (and a very repetitive soundtrack) aside, Ballad is generally entertaining and meets the relatively low bar set by the original series. Big dystopian setpieces, violent Games innovations, and an engaging backstory for the original series' central villain make this just enough worth a watch.