S M G
The title’s a bit of a handful – and to be honest the movie is too. Revisiting the Hunger Games cinematic franchise after it coming to such a successful conclusion seems a risky endeavour, and to be successful would always have to have a satisfying combination of engaging and charismatic characters, something new and different from before, and an irresistible story.
The story is indeed engaging – 64 years before the events of Katniss Everdeen at the Hunger Games, we are only in the tenth year of The Hunger Games, with a question mark hanging over their future. To stimulate interest, mentors from the University are assigned to the latest tributes from the 12 districts. Coriolanus Snow is assigned by the Games creator Casca Highbottom (a brilliant as always Peter Dinklage) to the young lady from district 12, Lucy Gray (Rachel Zegler), seemingly out of the idea that Lucy couldn’t possibly succeed, revealing a grudge held by the Dean against the Snow family.
In seeing an opportunity to boost his profile and restore the family fortunes, Coriolanus goes all out to support and build rapport with Lucy, catching the eye of the Head Gamemaker Dr Gaul (Viola Davis) in the process. Will plucky Lucy, whose only talent appears to be singing, survive? Will Coriolanus achieve his ambitions for him and his family? Is it the end of the Hunger Games? – Well, perhaps we know the answer to that one already. It’s compelling, thanks to the committed performances – from a reliable Peter Dinklage to a panto-villain scenery chewing Viola Davis. Of the leads, Tom Blyth is suitably ambiguous as the young Snow, and Rachel Zegler is different enough to fill the gaping hole left by the lack of Jennifer Lawrence. It made sense to make Lucy sympathetic in a different way and not create a clone, but it does make it harder to root for her, as she flips between vindictive and self serving to caring and supportive, making her feel as ambiguous as Snow for much of the movie.
Being won over by Zegler’s character is the first hurdle, knowing where the story is going is the next – we know already who Snow becomes, so we are being asked less ‘to care’ for his character, than to observe his journey which ultimately leads to callousness and calculated chicanery. Thankfully there is enough originality to the course of events to hold the attention, not least in the thrill to be had in seeing early clunkier iterations of The Hunger Games – at least that is until about two thirds of the way through the lengthy running time, when the final act starts to lose the sense of focus. Towards the end, the storytelling aims for compelling ambiguity but in places only reaches muddy plot logic, and it’s easy to lose some of the goodwill built up over the rest of the movie. Having said that, it’s this final third where the films themes of trust and conscience fully emerge – meaning the last third pulls off the impressive feat of feeling both too long, and yet not long enough to do justice to the story ambitions.
Overall, the design is great, the cast amazing and the story works for most if not all of the movie, and the characters might not be as initially engaging as I’d hoped, but they do enough – it’s just the sense of occasional ‘Why would they do that?” moments and that last third that let the movie end with more of a whimper than a bang. Not a failure then – I’m looking forward to see what happens next – but hoping that the storytelling becomes more focussed now that the stage is set.
© Stephen's Movie Guide
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