The Starvation Video games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes hit theaters final weekend, eight years after we final visited the dystopian world of Panem. The introduction of Rachel Zegler’s Lucy Grey Baird within the Coriolanus Snow origin story drew blended outcomes from critics, who stated it didn’t sidestep the widespread prequel drawback of weaving a compelling story after we already know a minimum of one of many character’s fates. Followers of the franchise, nevertheless, nonetheless confirmed up, making The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes the No. 1 film on the field workplace, and their suggestions suggests they appreciated the film far more than critics did.
Whereas early reactions to The Starvation Video games prequel had many calling it the very best of the collection, different critics identified a few of the movie’s flaws, together with “rehashing lots of the identical plots and themes” as its predecessors, in accordance with one evaluation. The viewers, nevertheless, both doesn’t agree or doesn’t care, as a result of regardless of the film pulling a Rotten Tomatoes rating of simply 63 p.c from the critics, its Viewers Rating is a certified-fresh 91 p.c. One fan, Madeline T, rated the film 5 out of 5 stars writing:
Reply. So true to the e-book, was precisely how I pictured it. I’m obsessed!
It’s not unusual to see Viewers Scores outshine the critics’ grades — particularly for a franchise movie corresponding to this with a longtime fanbase. These conversant in Suzanne Collins’ books or Jennifer Lawrence’s films usually tend to give the next ranking, even when there have been one or two points of the movie they discovered missing. Examples of a few of the 4- and 5-star rankings embody:
- I actually loved it total. There have been just a few pointless adjustments from the e-book however what are you able to do? – James
- Stable movie. A number of issues really feel rushed however total nice music and visible makes it effectively well worth the watch. – Vincent
- It was attention-grabbing however there have been moments the place I might discover myself a bit bored. – Alexa
- Very enjoyable and excessive motion till the final 30 min. Slowed down however defined connections to earlier movies. – Joe
In our personal CinemaBlend evaluation of The Starvation Video games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Sarah El-Mahmoud writes that the film doesn’t actually reply why the prequel facilities round Snow, when the video games themselves and Lucy Grey’s journey are each extra attention-grabbing tales. Lots of the viewers opinions, nevertheless, appear to love studying about how Coryo transforms into The Starvation Video games villain and having the ability to query whether or not or not Snow actually did love Lucy Grey.
Different critics say they do not want all of the parallels between Lucy Grey’s journey and Katniss Everdeen’s, however viewers member Kevin N. appreciates the connections made between the 2 time intervals, writing:
Stable story and character improvement. There have been surprises and attention-grabbing threads of connective tissue between this movie and the Starvation Video games movies.
Followers’ pre-existing emotions about The Starvation Video games franchise could have performed into the scores they doled out for The Ballad of Songbirds and Songs, however regardless of the cause, the distinction between the essential ranking and the Viewers Rating on Rotten Tomatoes is fairly drastic.
If you wish to see which aspect you agree with extra, the prequel starring Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth is in theaters now, and make sure you take a look at our 2023 film launch calendar to see what else is hitting the large display screen earlier than the top of the yr.
