The prequel to the Hunger Games movies starring Jenifer Lawrence is set at the time of the 10th Hunger Games, so 64 years earlier, and gives us the origin story of President Snow played by Donald Sutherland.
In this we watch the rise and partial fall, before rising of Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) from insanely handsome University kid studying, I think, The Hunger Games to rookie in the army before head game designer of the Hunger Games, before striding off into the sunset to one day become President. The film sees Snow and a bunch of other University students forced to become Mentors to this year's crop of Hunger Game tributes and he's given someone from District 12 who turns out to be Rachel Zegler's travelling bard, Lucy Gray Baird. Somehow he and her manage to survive while putting up with some serious heckling, bullying and sabotage from Professor Casca Highbottom, Peter Dinklage who used to be Snow's dad's best friend and seems to bear a serious grudge against the Snow family. Overseeing everything is the truly demented Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Viola Davis head game designer and all-out psychotic. And to bring some much need shits and giggles we have the fantastic Lucretius 'Lucky' Flicherman, Jason Schwatzman who's the TV host and the best thing in this film.
It's long and rather tedious. Despite a good looking cast headed up by Tom Blyth, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman and Viola Davis, this can't save the film from being exceedingly one note and I'm sorry to say rather dull.
For a bleak, dystopic, exceedingly nihilistic movie about a gladiatorial fight-to-the-death, I'm happy to report it's a totally blood free experience, despite the copious amounts of throat cuts, head smashes, stabbing, poisonings, public executions and machine gunning going on, so you'll be happy to bring your 12 year-old and under children in the knowledge that no one dies, they're just sleeping.
The actual 'Hunger Games' part of the film is the most thrilling and when it ends awkwardly two thirds of the way into the movie, we're then subjected to a protracted pre-prologue sequence as we watch our 'hero', Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) sent to District 12 to plot his rise to top again.
Offset by a lot of bleakness this film strangely marries 1950 design aesthetic with grunge and violence and then throws in some frankly cringey good-ole America folk songs as sung by Rachel Zegler's Lucy Gray Baird, who's a bard about things like her ex boyfriend getting hung and you have the year's funniest non comedy since Fast and Furious X.
When the Hunger Games part ends you quickly realise you have no interest in the rest of the film and with well over half an hour left to run, you sort of resign yourself to watching it all, because, well you've made it this far.
Looks good, Tom Blyth, Jason Schwartzman and Viola Davis make it just about worthwhile and at least it's not another superhero movie.
6/10
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