Ever since 2015 when The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 came out, fans have been eagerly waiting for another story from author Suzan Collins to expand on this wonderful universe. Ever since “The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes,” was published in the spring of 2020, fans have been eagerly waiting for the movie adaptation of it since previous movies were so popular.

“Songbirds And Snakes,” is a prequel before the original Hunger Games trilogy, set 64 years before the events of the first book. This book, and now a movie, follows a young Coriolanus Snow, now president of Panem, and he mentors a member of District 12 who has been selected for the 10th Hunger Games, Lucy Grey. This story not only follows life during the 10th Hunger Games, but also the events after the game.

This movie packs a punch, with a running time of 2 hours and 38 minutes, but the movie brings many memorable moments that are sure to make this movie very refreshing from the old movies. One thing that I found very new and interesting is how because Grey is a singer, she sings many songs throughout the movie that all add to the story that she is telling, each song builds off each other, telling tales of her old self, life in the districts, autobiography of herself and her relationship with Coriolanus.

Still this movie brings many easter eggs that fans are sure to notice the many references, such as when Lucy Grey and Coriolanus spend the day in the woods, and Grey’s friend picks up a plant that she refers to as ‘swamp potato,’ telling Coriolanus that she’d rather use the name ‘Katniss,’ referring back to the protaganist’s name of the three original books. There are many other easter eggs throughout the movie that connect back to the original books, such as Coriolanus’s love for roses, “The Hanging Tree,” song being written by Grey, and of course the mocking jay, which is a common nickname for Grey because of her constant singing, which is obviously represented many times throughout the original books.

Overall, the movie was showstopping. As a fan of the original movies, and as someone who had high expectations for the movie, they were definitely met. The story was amazing and very well adapted, the character and story building was on point, it was intreging and well written. It was very entertaining to the point you forgot about the lengthy run time. I rate this a 8/10.