To be honest, I was not particularly looking forward to watching The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. I had not read the prequel novel that Suzanne Collins wrote following her worldwide phenomenon Hunger Game trilogy, so only knowing that the movie would dive into the origins of Donald Sutherland's villainous President Snow seemed like standard prequel fodder from Hollywood trying to capitalize on a hit franchise that had been dormant for eight years. So I was pleasantly surprised when I left the theater and couldn't deny that The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes was a good watch.
This is how a prequel should feel. Though we know the overall outcome — young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) is hardened into the man who would become the ruthless leader of Panem during the main trilogy — it successfully lays the breadcrumbs for that transformation throughout, allowing us to understand and lament the character's turn. It also effectively weaves in many of the things that we know from the original franchise without them feeling forced (though there is one easter egg that is quite heavy handed). Yet it is able to be its own story, probably enjoyed the best by those who know the franchise but accessible for newcomers as well.
