First time watching Hunger Games The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie reaction 

What an interesting story for Snow. Did this meet your expectations? Did they follow the book enough? What did we miss from the book to the film? Badd Medicine Arcade channel ru-vid.com/show-UCHIstVk00GtduPIXlJLdC3A Early Drops & Full Reactions on YT Memberships & Patreon: www.patreon.com/baddmedicine Backup channel Subscribe here ru-vid.com/show-UC1CLUwA27dz-94o3FR0o3xg

Oak Is 100% correct. Snow only cared for lucy for his own benefit and ego. His inner thoughts in the book , he viewed lucy as his property. He said he rather see her in the zoo or the arena so he can keep an eye on her. His inner thoughts are messed up. Once he found the guns, he was so excited to go back home but he realized that lucy was the last loose end so he became paranoid and decided to hunt her down. Love the Easter eggs about katniss. The bow and arrow in the arena untouched, the mockingjays, the hanging tree, the plant . Lucy gray last words to snow was she was gonna look for katniss. Katniss was Lucy's vengeance even Sejanus. We don't know what happened to lucy gray. As she said to snow, "she's a mystery". But I believe she's free .

A cool fact to know: Mags, the old lady from Catching Fire, was the winner of the 11th edition of the games. From there, the winners received a cash prize and a house in the victor's village. Until then they simply didn't get anything for winning. And Lucy's edition, as it was a test that went wrong because Snow cheated, fell into oblivion because they erased all the recordings from that edition. So no one remembers who won. Katniss even says in the book: That district 12 only had two winners: Haymitch and someone else that no one remembers... Lucy became a mystery and something Snow couldn't control, it haunted him for many, many years.

oak is probably the only one i've heard review who caught that coriyo was bad the whole time. he showed it in very subtle ways in the movie. in the book, it's clearer that he isn't that great because of his inner thoughts. he did feel attached to lucy gray but i don't think he really loved her because his interests always came first. a lot of viewers who didn't read the book thought coriyo screaming in the forest was abrupt. i don't think so, even if you didn't get much hint that he was selfish all along. after the snake bite, he had enough reason to mistrust lucy gray. and again, he can only trust himself. his personal dream was always to be in high rankings in the capitol. that was always his driving force.

Oak's take is incredibly impressive and spot on for someone who has not read the book. Snow being a snake and self-motivated from the very start can be easy to miss from only watching the movie, but you are absolutely right. So many people sympathized with Snow after watching this movie, which was disappointing and the opposite of what the author was going for. So it's really refreshing to see that someone understands how shitty he really was the whole time

Something the movie couldn't capture perfectly was just how awful his inner thoughts are in the book. He hated Sejanus the entire time, he saw Lucy as a piece to move and own, and he was constantly thinking of how he could advance himself from the very beginning from the first page.

Snows villian origin story is so unique and probably my favorite of any I’ve ever seen because it’s not like the cliche “he was good, then he experienced trauma and turned bad overnight” both the book and the movie are excellent at showing that he was never fully good to begin with. His father who he idolized was snobbish and power hungry, and after he died snows main objective was to gain his families fortune and influence back at ANY cost so they wouldn’t be looked down on by other capitol dynasties. The book especially illustrates how snow already had some pretty sadistic opinions that only manifested more powerfully throughout the course of knowing Lucy gray, Sejanus, Dr. Gaul, etc. (for example: Oak is correct about his motivations for Lucy gray being 100% self benefiting, to the point that he sees Lucy gray as “his,” something he “created” and is his “property”. So in the book when she sings her song on tv about Billy Taupe, Snow’s having a hissy fit in his head the whole time because, is his words, “I wanted to be the only guy you thought about.”

Oak, THANK YOU! You're the first person who really understood the point of this film. You're SUPPOSED to be looking for the moment where Snow "turns bad", but, like you said, the fact of the matter is that he was ALWAYS bad, it was just a matter of how honest he was with himself. (In the book, it's a lot more obvious that he's evil from the jump, but the subtlety is necessary for the movie adaptation.) And another thing: he and Lucy Gray had in common that they were both snakes, in a way, that they were both motivated solely by survival. The difference was that Snow saw that as an excuse to unleash his cruelty, and Lucy Gray (as she said in the woods) saw it as a reminder of the constant struggle to try to do good anyway. Brilliant review guys, I'd been waiting for this one!

I like that Lucy Gray isn’t portrayed in this way of “I’m in love with this guy so all my sense and my instincts go out the window”. Lucy saw the writing on the wall and got out of there. She’s smart and probably always had her doubts about Snow. When he lied, it was the confirmation she needed he wasn’t a good guy. I really liked the movie, definitely such a good dive into a fascinating villain!

All right, guys, Lucky Flickerman is Cesar Flickerman’s ancestor. The girl who died at the zoo was Arachne Crane who was an ancestor of Seneca Crane, gamemaker in first HG movie. There was even Hilarius Heavensbee who was Plutarch Heavensbee’s ancestor. Tigris, Snow's cousin, is also the cat face woman in Mockingjay 2. And finally, Lucy Gray wrote the Hanging Tree which Katniss also sang. Good reaction, guys. 👍🏻

This movie brings into light so much of Snow's actions in the other movies. In Catching Fire when he is sitting with Katniss and gets mad and says, "DONT LIE" it really makes you realize how important the truth was to him with how things were left with Lucy Gray.

Me to me: "you haven't watched the movie DON'T watch the reaction" 2 sec later.... "SOMEBODY CALL THE DOCTOR BECAUSE BADD MEDICINE IS BACK...."

I watched this in the cinema, it was incredible! Especially the singing sequences. And while we talk about that, i think a lot of people did not like the singing because it was so much…but if you are a book reader you’ll understand why the singing is so important! (Also i am writing this comment before finishing the reaction video so that was just a general information and not based on this reaction video!)

"And he didn’t like love, the way it had made him feel stupid and vulnerable. If he ever married, he’d choose someone incapable of swaying his heart. Someone he hated, even, so they could never manipulate him the way Lucy Gray had. Never make him feel jealous. Or weak. Livia Cardew would be perfect. He imagined the two of them, the president and his first lady, presiding over the Hunger Games a few years from now. He’d continue the Games, of course, when he ruled Panem. People would call him a tyrant, ironfisted and cruel. But at least he would ensure survival for survival’s sake, giving them a chance to evolve. What else could humanity hope for? Really, it should thank him." “It’s the things we love most that destroy us”

“It’s the things we love most that destroy us”

It worthwhile reading the book. So much of it is Snows inner dialogue and it explains so much and also gives hints towards his problematic personality traits earlier. Also Lucy has different/more active kills during the games in the book. She kills Wovey and then in the final 3 kills both Treach and Reaper. Also the snakes don't kill everyone and she weaponizes them. Theory is Maude Ivory (covey member) is Katniss's paternal grandmother. Her father knows about the lake which was a covey secret and knows the Hanging Tree song which was sung once to a Party of peacekeepers and then banned immediately afterwards so not many has knowledge of it.

Reaper covering the dead tributes made me cry in the theaters. Such a beautiful scene.... ❤

FINALLY PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY ENJOYED THE MOVIE LIKE I DID. YOU ALL GAVE 5/5 THANK YOU. THIS MOVIE NEEDS MORE PRAISE.

Just to let you know . . . This hunger games was wiped from the history by Gaul, Mags was in the 11th annual hunger games which means she was probably one of the last people to remember Lucy Gray, and Sejanus’s family essentially adopt Snow because to them Snow was their son’s best friend until the end and they funded Snow’s entire career. Also Tigris is the stylist in the Mockingjay part 2 who is basically alright with Katniss killing Snow, it really goes to show how much they changed from being best cousins to being split up like this.

This movie just made me rewatch every thg movie and realize that it was SO PERSONAL to Snow, imagine his face when the proppo of katniss singing The Hanging Tree, the song HIS EX wrote for him. HILARIOUS.

It's crazy to me how patient these guys are to not go to the cinema for movies like this.

YES!!! Been waiting for this reaction. So many parallels between both Lucy and Sejanus with Katniss and Peeta. Reaper is my favorite character. The scene where he covered the fallen tributes bodies with the flag of their true killers, is the most powerful scene in the movie for me. And also, snow having a full blown metal breakdown was done so well, Tom blyth did such a good job portraying such a complex character.

Oak is spot on - he was rotten the whole time and in the book, when you have snows inner monologue you can see it the whole time! He’s also incredibly possessive of Lucy Gray, he thinks of her as a possession the whole time and the one of the only things I think the movies suffers for not having that internal monologue edit; sejanus is also never snows friend , he only uses him to ahead with money etc

I loved how faithful it was to the source material. The characters were nuanced and acting was also top notch. And that last line by Donald Sutherland was *chef’s kiss* The original films were a spectacular, but this was a solid movie on its own merit. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! ❤

This was a really good prequel! They continued the franchise as if this movie is meant to belong before the first Hunger Games. It was said to be as great as Catching Fire which I agree !

Something that was pretty graphic that was in the books that they could not add to the movies was during the arena explosion two tributes get killed and their bodies are dragged through the streets behind a carriage that was used for a funeral service for two of the mentors who had also got killed

An important take, Tigris is not Snow's sister, she is his cousin. You can see her in the part 2 of Mockingjay, after leaving the underground tracks and fighting with the mutts, they looked for a hiding place, the one who helped them was Tigris, she literally looked like a tiger. Katniss said that she recognized her, that she used to be a stylist for the games. When she asked her what happened, Tigris said that Snow thought she wasn't pretty enough anymore. Then Katniss told her that she was going to kill Snow and Tigris smiled.Seeing how it ended is heartbreaking knowing how much they cared about each other at the beginning.

I don't know if you noticed but Hanging Tree song that Lucy Grey sang is the same song Katniss was singing and what become symbol of rebellion. Katniss never knew how personal she made that song for Snow not because it was by Lucy Grey but also that song kind of dediceted to him too. This song is kind of mix about Arlo Chance and his lover. That was a rebel that was hanged in the beginning when Snow went to District 12. "For his love to flee" that line was about him and his lover Lil. Also this song is about Lucy Grey's ex Billy Toupe also because in book Billy was asking Lucy Grey to run with him to North but she refused him, also hanging tree was their meeting place when they were dating. Thirdly, it's about Snow too because when she sang it last time in book that was her way to say where should they meet because she and Snow were gonna run together. P.S. "They say he murdered three" line is foreshadowing because rebel Arlo also killed 3 but this song foreshadowed Snow's future. I would say almost all Lucy Grey songs kind of foreshadowed him and her relashionship with him so imagine older Snow's paranoia when his ex girlfriend's song becomes a symbol and started hunting him like it happend in woods with mockingjays lol

Oak is hit the BULLSEYE 🎯. The books really details his inner thoughts are almost sociopathic. But the little moments here from the outside as viewer are what matter. Tigris and Sejanus made his seem “good” but once they’re gone he has no one to really hide behind.

Suzanne Collins actually didn’t plan on writing another Hunger Games book after finishing the Mockingjay but years later called the director of the movies Francis Lawrence and just said ‘Francis, I just finished writing another book.’ 😃 she apparently couldn’t stay away from the universe, like so many of us! 😃 I don’t think she will write another book even though I wish for it! Her writing is incredible, there is not a single ‘slow’ moment in her stories and it just gets you hooked! I also think there is so much potential still surrounding the universe! Snow actually becoming president, how the people react to the changes he makes, how they develop this fondness for their extravagant clothes, makeup and mannerisms. How the capitol got so wealthy again after he becomes president because in this movie they were still dealing with aftermaths of the war. How Snow’s relationship to Tigris changes, why she was driven to change her appearance so drastically! I would also absolutely love to read more about Finnick and his Games, his relationship to Mags, him becoming a mentor and meeting Annie and helping her through her games. Haymitch’s or Johanna’s games would be so interesting too! We get a glimpse of Haymitch’s story but there could be so much more to it. Man… I would love to read all of it. This sure is my absolute favorite universe 😅

Oak you knocked it out of the park with your analysis! Yes! Snow was always a manipulative snake type of person. The war just drove his hunger for power and status. He did everything to be in favor of the capitol. Not just to survive but to prosper. The book is in all the perspective of Corio Snow and there is so many inner thoughts and conflicts that the movie couldn’t adapt. It’s worth a read it’s amazing. Loved the movie and your reactions guys.

Literally saw this and gasped out loud, I've been waiting for y'all's reactions!! Over the years, I've watched probably hundreds of reaction videos, but you guys were the first channel I actually subscribed to, and I did it immediately after the first watch! I love the different perspectives and insights each person has, and I'm always impressed (and satisfied! As it's usually a movie/series I love) at the depth of the analysis and discussion. Anyway, I'm sure this reaction will be as awesome as all the others, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys think as the whole THG series is one of my all time faves. Have a lovely day to you guys and everyone reading this :)

Fun and awesome fact: several of the actors had disabilities in this film, it’s the most diverse cast, in this respect, that I’ve ever seen. I was blown away and think they’ve created an amazing film. They also cast actors within the countries/cities they were filming in. ❤

I went to see this, with my teenage girls, at the theater. One hated Snow by the end. The other kind of had a crush on the actor, but still thought Snow was evil. I thought it tied in with the original series perfectly. The girls discussed the movie for several days. It stays with you. President Snow was reminded of Lucy Gray, in so many ways, by Katniss. This movie was awesome. Oh...and Tigris was Snow's cousin. She is the "tiger girl" that helped Katniss, when they were hiding from the government in the capital. **I know Oak likes the audio books....there is a full link audio book, on RU-vid, of "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes." It is in two parts. So, you have to find part one and part two. I don't find much time to read these days, although I love reading. So, I listened to it after seeing the movie. Snow is a snake.😳

Suzanne Collins is incredible and the way she made a new story that we didn't expect of is amazing. Knowing all this, we could know why Snow could see Katniss's BS and he targets her so much. Katniss has the spirit of both Sejanus and Lucy Gray. At the end, Katniss and Peeta lived the life that Lucy Gray offered Snow but he loves his selfishness the most. Superb reaction! I followed through you guys' reactions with the rest of the series. Oak, Mason, and The Answer always giving such great commentary!

I was wondering if you guys noticed that Tigris existed in Mockingjay Part Two as well. She helped Katniss when she admitted she was going to kill President Snow. She was the one with the tiger markings after becoming a stylist of the games for years. Her split with Snow started at the end of this film but many fans are curious about the story in between.

The guy on the left. I love that he is honest at the beginning about whether he likes the first movies or not. Even when he doesn't like them it is so satisfying to know he is not just saying he likes it for the fans and it is that much more satisfying to see him come around by the end.

As someone from the Southern state which Bluegrass music both came from and was named after (Kentucky) the music had me dancing along lol 😂 she has a great voice

The intro gave me goosebumps I’m ngl that was sick

This prequel was really really well done. Gives new perspective, not just on Snow's past but his future as well. Imagine how Snow would have felt hearing Katniss sing 'The Hanging Tree' in the district 13 rebel promotions, knowing it was Lucy who wrote the song all those decades ago and it still survived in the folk culture of the districts after all this time. Just the fact that Lucy went looking for 'katniss' when he last saw her and Katniss came into his life as the Mockingjay, the birds who taunted him over Sejanus' death, a death he both caused and benefitted greatly from. Talk about your past coming back to haunt you. Nice Susan Collins, we see what you did there.

Wovey absolutely broke me. It just angered something deep inside me to see her little face sent into that arena. My great uncle had Down syndrome, he was the sweetest man I knew.

18:20 Btw. Centennial Hall in Poland used for this arena is part of the UNESCO and is normally used as cultural place, where you can see art, opera (it had one of the biggest pipe organs in the world at some point) and sport. It's an actual arena built in 1911-1913. 55:40 The irony about this prequel is that you would assume the Songbird is the poor girl from 12 and Snow is the Snake. But it's her who is the Snake-whisperer and he is the pretty Songbird telling lies and murdering people with words. 56:00 Btw. the book obviously is much more detailed - I feel like whole Sejanus plotline got the most simplified, so I do recommend reading the book, if you ever find time for it. And there were also some other small details never really specified in the movie (like one of the student girls - we knew it was her farther who chopped the body in the beginning, which haunted Snow every time he saw her). And Tigris (the same woman as the Tigris from third book that gave Katniss safe space in Capitol) - was also implied to do some less than happy things to bring food to the home, as her job as seamstress wasn't bringing as much money.

I absolutely love how book accurate this movie is! Of course things have had to be left out and you can’t get into Snow’s inner monologue but very very few things have been changed to fit the movie version and they did such a great job! Absolutely loved it and the acting was phenomenal!

They used The Hanging Tree clip of Katnis singing it in the propos against Snow in the 3rd movie. Who would've thought it was literally his GIRLFRIEND that composed it, and that it was about them two? Insane.

The Oak, this film was the most faithful to the book among all five films so far, which says a lot, because the previous four films were praised for being very faithful to the books. I read all books and can say that the "Ballad..." film has *zero* deviations from the book. The only differences are in the small details which the film omitted or abbreviated. E.g. the book makes it very clear from the start that Coriolanus Snow is a sociopath who *always* aims only for his own benefits regardless of the cost incurred to other people. The book also makes clear from the beginning that Snow undergoes a very gradual descent into villainy because all his bad deeds have zero negative consequences for himself but only benefits. The only "positive" thing Coriolanus did - to help Lucy Gray survive via cheating - had severe negative result for Coriolanus (banishment to districts for 20 years). Snow always received rewards for evil deeds and punishment for good deeds. This is not clear in the movie, but in the book there are many examples for this.

This book was written after the original trilogy and with the knowledge that it would become a movie. Tigris is snow cousin, if u notice she calls him Coryo all throughout till the very end and calls him by his full name meaning they had issues and she is also the lady that looks like a tiger in Mockingjay

There is a hint in the movies when he sees the footage of Katniss singing The Hanging Tree, he says "that's not possible" because Lucy Grey wrote The Hanging Tree after seeing the first man hang in this movie. Then in the book she performs it at the General's birthday and he bans that song. So the theory is that Katniss knows the song because her father's mum must have been Maud Ivory. Lucy Grey said that Maud Ivory can remember a song after hearing it only once (same as Katniss and her father). So her father must have sang to her the banned Covey songs. And in the books, Katniss says her father tought her to swim in the lake near the cabin that Snow and Lucy Grey go to in this movie. Also, it's not really represented in the movie but we learn in the book that Snow hates Mockingjays with a passion because they are the result of Jaberjays (created by the Capitol) mating with Mockingbirds. He hates it because he thinks it represents chaos as opposed to the Capitol's order. That's why Snow is so focused on Katniss from the start, there are too many hints to be coincidences and he must think she is baiting him.

Snow went to district 12 because Lucy had become an obsession, it was never about love. To him, she was his property but little did he know that his songbird had the power to tame snakes. Love y'alls reactions!

This is from Tom and Rachel interview. Tom said.. "If I had to pick one, I would say they are in love for a short time, short but sweet time. But, is it love of circumstance, is it born out of circumstance and out of need for each other, and then the question is what even is love? Does love have to be just like this pure thing that comes out of nowhere or sometimes out of circumstance, is it out of what one person needs from another.. so yeah, I would say.. YES, BUT.." Tom said.. "The challenge, the imbalance of power that they're fighting, the ambiguity of it, I think Coryo was looking at her thinking, "I love her but she feels dangerous to me", she feels like the very chaos that he's been taught you have to control in order to have a flourishing society that he wants to live in and she kinda represent the chaos, the fire, the music and the life, and he's been taught to squash all that down in order to have control and be powerful.." Rachel said, "and ironically he represents a very similar thing for her because she views the capitol as disorder and he views the districts as disorder. And when we were approaching our scenes together it was mostly for me at least, what percentage of her doubts, what he's saying to her right now on this given day, because she doesn't really know for a majority of it. The first thing that happens between the two of them is the guards say that he wants to help her but he also gets money so which is it, he say both. There is an unbridled honesty to a certain extent that makes you want to root for them, but the reality is that both of them are very much team self-preservation and survival" Rachel said, "I'm also team LOVE, BUT.." ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-w3NRJDBJImU.htmlsi=wZFAAqgBNy8PGbbu

Fun fact: the girl who plays Lucy Gray sang live while filming. And I don’t know if you caught it, but Snows cousin Tigress, is the same woman who you meet in Mockingjay who hides Katniss in the costume shop before she and Gale go to kill Snow. And the book was written 10 years after the original books.

Fun fact: Lucy Gray's actress and Sejanus's actor are dating in real life. They met in previous movie they were together in (Steven Spielberg's West Side Story. I highly recommend the movie to you guys!)

The way I’ve been feening for this reaction is crazy 😂. I can’t wait to see how yall feel about it ❤🎉

Kudos to oak for realizing snow was bad all along, most people miss out on that

He was shady from day 1, but i do think he fell in love with Lucy Gray, but his thirst for power was bigger and held a more important place in his life. I feel like he fought his wickedness but at the end, when he realized Lucy Gray "betrayed" him, he stopped helding onto his humanity and just embraced his dark side.

The film is a decent adaptation but it does make it seem like Snow was more genuinely nice/good than he actually is. Snow never runs to the classmate who was stabbed to death by her tribute on his own terms, he had to be told. And the ending, in the books he was already going to turn on Lucy Gray and was already going paranoid, rather than seemingly losing it after he thinks she attacked him like in the film. The movie kinda makes it seem like he was betrayed by love and that’s what turned him but the book makes it very clear that Snow was already selfish and treacherous and paranoid and he was given every opportunity to do good but chose not to.

I really loved it, I'm glad you enjoyed it as well! I actually went and bought the book after watching the movie, and I can say that the book is even better. I think they did a really good job converting this to film, but the books offer a really good insight into Coriolanus' thought process. He's quite self-centered and focused on his own survival, and seeing the way he thinks and how he responds to things (such as the Mockingjays, which he hates instantly upon hearing about them) was SO interesting. It's really difficult to translate character's thoughts on screen so I'd suggest reading the book for that for sure, but overall I think they did a really excellent job! I had goosebumps at the end 🥹 it's just confirmed that The Hunger Games is my favourite series, it's just so well done.

Oak, you dissected this movie so good! I completely agree w all of your analyzations. I haven’t seen many reactors realize that Snow was never good from the start and he also never truly loved Lucy. He thought of her as a possession , something he obsessed over

I think it's important to consider that Lucy being "from" 12, her song 'Hanging Tree', the plant 'katniss', etc. All those things show why it was so easy for Snow to feel trigged by Katniss. If you remember, in the third movie, it's after Katniss singing Hanging tree prop that Snow went wild even more. Not saying it was the main reason, but i wonder if it didn't made him remember Lucy's voice, singing that song

It's not an Easter egg persay, but the jabberjays repeating the hanged people's last words seemed to have def influenced Snow to have the jabberjay 'scream torture' you see in Catching Fire

Sejanus’s farther didn’t arrange for Marcus to be in the games he arranged that who ever was picked as the male tribute for district 2 sejanus would mentor as it would show him he couldn’t go back to district 2

I was waiting for your reaction to this! I came to this channel originally from your hunger games reaction and I've been watching ever since!

I can't imagine anyone hating this movie because I think it was a perfect backstory to Snow. It fleshed out his character soooo much more than we knew from the OG movies. It explained everything like why he was so fascinated with Katniss because I truly believe that he never hated her. I love it and I'm glad y'all enjoyed it as much as I did.

YESS!! I've been excitedly waiting for this reaction - loved your videos on the original series!!

Loved your reactions and insights! There were sooo many Easter eggs regarding how everything started, like it was super cool to see the deep dive into the world building. For example: *1) The poisoning & roses -* it may not be that clear in the movies, but in the books it was explained that Snow would often poison the drinks of his enemies or anyone he views as a threat to take them out, but also take a small sip from the same drink as to not raise suspicion. That's why he was constantly bleeding from the mouth in the original series, and why he carried roses everywhere to mask the smell of blood. It was cool to see how he started doing that, and why he was so attached to roses (his mom). *2) All of the little details from the Games -* the muttations (the weird animals/creatures Dr. Gaul created), the drones, how the betting/sponsoring began, how they eventually started pampering them and dressing them up to make for a good show, etc. It was interesting to see how much of it was directly from Snow's ideas. *3) Tigress - * Not sure if many people realized, but his cousin was the tiger girl Katniss met in Mockingjay that helped them by letting the crew hide out in her shop. The story from the original series is that she used to be a stylist until she was too "ugly" with all her body modifications according to Snow, in which he casted her out. This prequel gives a whole new dimension to his twistedness and cruelty to even family members. And gave a whole new meaning to when Katniss told Tigress she was planning on killing Snow, and Tigress smiled. *4) The Hanging Tree song -* The fact that Lucy Grey Baird wrote it is super cool. It implies that Katniss was a descendant of Lucy Grey. *5) Names* - specifically, showing the origins/relatives of some of the characters that appeared in main series, a sort of namedrop if you will. Ex: Heavensbee (Last name of Plutarch, Head Gamemaker/Revolution guy), Arachne Crane (Seneca Crane, Head Gamemaker in the first movie), Lucky Flickerman (Caesar Flickerman, the host of the THGs), and I'm sure there are more. This one wouldn't stand out as much unless you read the books, but yeah. I think the movie was great and all the actors did amazing, but personally I felt like it would be a bit confusing at certain parts if you hadn't read the book first. But overall, they did such an amazing job with building upon the origins of the THG world.

I don’t know if yall noticed, but the “Hanging Tree” song Lucy gray was singing is the same one Katniss sung in MockingJay Part 1 right before the damn was destroyed.

I love how people are like "In the books he was bad from the start" like, girl, first 10 minutes in and I was like, "He's very much only about his own skin."

Everyone’s comments and notes are already so on point, I just have one more small one to add. Tigris was Snow’s cousin in this film and you may remember in the Mockingjay Part II, the tiger painted woman who owned the costume shop and said she and Snow had a “difference of opinion” and helps Katniss disguise herself is the same cousin, introduced herself as Tigris.

Honestly as far as book to movie adaptations, this is one of my favorites! Of course some things were done differently and you loose the internal monologue which adds a lot but the story and the way the movie makes you feel were spot on. I loved this movie and I'm definitely a huge fan of the book

As someone who read the books in middle school over a decade ago, I ADORE this movie. I read the prequel three times and listened to the audiobook and everytime I am blown away. I was revolted when Ma Plinth ended up taking Coryo in as a substitute son. She never knew the truth about her sons death. That sent shivers down my spine. 10/10 we’ll done Suzanne Collins

this was THE reaction i was waiting for! definitely did not disappoint

This was a really great review, and you guys nailed it! There's so much that can be lost in translation when adapting books into film, and I'm thrilled that you all tried to look beyond what is just presented on screen and collate it into a bigger picture. That said, you can better see Coryo's hypocrisy and true nature in the book, where his relationship with Serjanus and his family is better illustrated and makes a more significant impact at the end when he sells him off.

Not sure if anyone else sees it too but for me there is a great parallel between Highbottom and Gale. Both came up with something horrible during a moment of weakness and didn't really think someone would make it into reality. But they did and now they have to live with that knowledge for the rest of their lives. That it was their idea and they have the blood on their hands as well. Also I love the line about mysteries driving people mad. Because we don't know what happened to Lucy Gray and the fact that Snow probably "sees her face in every place but he can't catch her" (as was sung in the credits song) had to drive him crazy. And then 64 year later certain "swamp potato" from district 12 storms the Capitol, defies all odds and breaks the system while wearing mockingjay symbol and singing a song his ex wrote over half a century ago. I just think it gives the whole story and his hatred for Katniss so much more depth.

The book was a lot more hardcore. Between the girl offed at the zoo and the actual games there's a lot. They also eliminated the roll of Sejanus's mom, and at the end the Plinth family basically adopted all the Snows even moving to their same building. There's also a friend of the Snows that they completely eliminate that helped them during the dark days. Obviously you cannot have 50 secondary characters in a movie so there's that.

In the book they didnt play the recording when sejanus was hung so he died actually thinking that snow was his best friend. also in the book snow doesn’t REALLY care that much about his death. he hated him bc he always thought of him as district. he also thought about lucy gray as his possession and his ticket to a better image in the capitol

6:55 There’s a lot of hints in the books that point to this girl (Lucy Gray’s cousin, Maude Ivory) being Katniss’s paternal grandmother or great-grandmother.

My favorite little nod is Lucy is an entertainer forced to fight while Katniss is a survivor forced to entertain

To your question, the people who didn’t like this movie are NOT the book readers. Suzanne Collins said this movie was up there in best adaptations with Catching Fire, so all the book fans considered it a win. The movie is very very faithful to the book, and there is even more in depth cut (Francis Lawrence said the original cut was 6 hours). From what I can see, the negative reviews are from movie critics who are a little older and missed the Hunger Games craze/ didn’t understand the story. They were a little older for the target audience of the books and for the most part, the reviewers who didn’t like the prequel book and deemed it “unnecessary” didn’t like this movie. I was so disappointed in so many of the movie podcast reviewers I listen to that crapped all over this movie saying it was so stuffed and convoluted. To me, they weren’t paying attention. Oak, you are 100% right about Coryo always being evil. I’ll add to that observation and talk about why I love this movie so much: it shows how from the outside you can’t really know someone’s true motivations. So while Snow seemed like a key player or just someone who was trying to survive, in truth he was always selfish. And when the opportunities presented itself, he always chose the selfish path. The sinister part is you can see how Coryo could be anyone you know. It really shows how dictator and twisted tendencies can come from anywhere, even if they’ve gone through something difficult or had good life. We all have the capacity for good and the capacity for evil. I started watching you guys because your reaction to the first hunger games autoplayed after I listened to the audiobook for the Ballad of Songbird and Snakes last year. Happy to have found you guys and getting to share my love for this franchise with you. 😊

Y'all hit it out of the park on your analysis, Oak especially. Everyone watching it for the first time (or reading the book for the first time) is looking for the 'who hurt you' moment that justifies his entire turn to evil, and it's not until the end that you realize he was already there. A million small compromises, from cheating in the games to ratting out Sejanus to outright murder, led him down a path to hell he paved not with good intentions but with self-obsession. It might not be the film that has the making of blockbuster cinema, but I honestly think this is the perfect capstone to the Hunger Games series.

I love how they incorporated the singing in the movie, because it was a more prominent part of the original hunger games and history of 12 that wasn't as touched on in the films, except for the 2 songs Katniss sings. That rebel spirit and defiance was a part of 12 that both Katniss and Lucy embodied and the music was a part of showing that. The lower districts were worse off because of their involvement in the original rebellion if I'm remembering correctly, ( and ofc Snows personal vendetta,)the more wealthy the districts, the more loyal and closer their relationship with the capital. In the books it was Katniss's father who taught her those songs that were passed down, alot of them having been banned/erased from even being known, as well as teaching her to hunt and be resourceful, another thing that was considered illegal. Katniss was also a songbird herself. And yes Snow was a snake from day one, it was just a matter of when he would completely embrace that part of himself and fully commit towards using any means to get his way. He always saw those around him as a means to an end and how they could personally benefit him, when he saw a clear route to his deepest wishes, ( to make it back to the capital and advance,) he was ready to throw everyone around him away. Him caring for Sejanus and Lucy, was only so deep and warped from the beginning, he was attracted to what they had/could give him and convinced himself it was love. Sejanus was the presidents son who had what he wanted, and Lucy was his ticket to winning the games and prestige, he was jealous and annoyed of his 'friend' and saw Lucy as his property. In MockingJay film 1 I think, theres a scene where he announces any affiliation with symbols of Katniss would be treasonous and his grand-daughter undoes her hair, you get the sense that even she was expendable for simply wearing a braid in her hair like Katniss his own grand-daughter, also Tigres his cousin in the last MockingJay, helping the rebels to kill Snow in the end. Katniss, Lucy, Snow, even Peeta, they are all manipulative and cunning when it comes to survival, but for everyone except Snow it's just that, surviving. They don't see others as pawns to be used and discarded, especially those they love, for Snow it's about 'winning' and pride over everything, and him becoming fully realized as the tyrant who uses fear, their love for each other and annihilation to keep the districts in line.

I have a MASSIVE fear of snakes but really wanted to see this, so this is how I’m ‘watching’ it. 😂 thanks for the help, guys!

The last words that Lucy Grey says to Snow refer to the original story, that Katniss would come to defeat him. It is also believed that Katniss is the granddaughter of Lucy's cousin, who appears in the movie, although more is said about her in the book. I loooved the movie, I think they managed to give the movie a twist, as the book is described from Snow's perspective, as a reader you knows at all times how evil he is, and he constantly tries to justify himself. but the movie manages to fool you like it fooled Lucy, Sijanus or Tigris.

In the book, it was the little girl wovey from district 8 that drank the poisoned water instead of the girl from 11. It was much sadder. I am glad they changed it.

Diamond Dave killed that intro! Been waiting on this one❤

Also if you think about it Viola Davis's character was like a mother viper who was grooming young Snow who she saw as the next snake with potential. And it turns off Peter dinklidge character was a songbird the whole time.

I love that the oak realized that Snow was never good. And yes the word “snakes” in the title of the movie refers to Snow. Snow has been called a snake before. In Mockingjay Part 1, Finnick exposes in the propos that Snow used poison to get rid of all his enemies or anyone that was a threat to his power. Finnick says “His weapon of choice is the only thing suited for such a man. Poison, the perfect weapon for a snake.”

An interesting thing about the book is that all along he’s referred to as Coriolanus, until the epilogue, after he’s back in the Capitol, where the book starts to refer to him as “Snow”: his transformation into the character we see in THG almost complete.

I’ve been watching these guys for a couple months now and even though they are probably like 30-40s years old they are all so interesting and entertaining. You’d think “ but Maya your 22.” Idk I just like these guys they are so funny and down to earth and cool. They are like the cool uncle’s kinda

i just finished watching the reel rejects reaction and as soon as I clicked off their video you post thing 🙏🏻🙏🏻 time to rewatch with you guys straight away I guess

Oak's take made me rewatch it, and i'm so grateful, because on seeing it again I think he's absolutely right about Snow.

Been looking forward to your reaction for this one! Oak, in your reaction to the first Hunger Games you asked why 12-18 year old tributes instead of 20-30 year olds. There's a line in the Songbirds and Snakes book that addresses it - I was so upset it wasn't included in the movie. Dr Gaul asks Snow why they use children in the Games. Snow says - "Because we credit them with innocence. And if even the most innocent among us turn to killers in the Hunger Games, what does that say? That our essential nature is violent."

Thank God Oak’s commentary is spot on with how I felt about this film, I was going insane thinking that people couldn’t see Snow was bad from the beginning.

I loved this movie, the cast did a wonderful job acting.

OAK IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!!!!

Also the quote “it’s the things we love most that destroy us” and that’s exactly what happened to Snow. When it’s Katniss’s turn for the HC it’s almost like Lucy Gray came back to haunt him. Katniss’s name, the bow, her being from twelve, the mockingjays, and Katniss singing a song that Lucy wrote that snow hasn’t heard in 60+ years. And in the end Katniss is what destroyed him. That’s one of my takes on it personally.

I have the impression that Snow was always teetering on being good or bad and eventually went bad. As a kid, he went from being ultra rich to living for over a decade on the brink of starvation, both his parents died rather close together in a war (and in childbirth complicated by the effects of the war) that he was too young to understand with his grandmam constantly blaming it on the districts. Additionally, living through air raids and bombings and seeing neighbors cannabolizing others out of starvation at such a young age really added to his trauma. He had to live for over a decade pretending to be rich with the pressure of being the one person his family was relying on to reverse the family fortunes. I feel as though the Dean Highbottom character played a large part in who he became, because instead of trying to help and shape a child who had lost everything but appearance in the war, he routinely undercut him for something his father did.

This was spot on. The journey he goes through is not about him going from good to bad. He had a good side, but by the end of the book he wasn’t willing to nurture and follow it. I don’t think it’s as simple as “he was always horrible”, but this was definitely not a “good guy turns bad”

Oak, I loved how you explained Snow because I felt the same. He actually reminded me of my abusive (NPD) mother. Strangely enough, growing up she “seemed” loving, but I was always waiting for that moment she would genuinely be “nice”, even though it also never came (but they play the facade very well). When you mentioned how Snow only came back for himself (and everything he did, really), I thought this, too. These types of people/personalities are all about themselves. They are selfish, entitled, and will manipulate and use people as pawns for their own gains, with no regard for how this may impact those around them. On a positive note: I’m glad you guys enjoyed it, as well. I thought it was a great watch, and it might be my favourite in this franchise ✨.

I saw this in theaters and the one bit of world building I actually took away the most from this film was finally understanding how the sponsors worked. They were mostly only relevant to the first movie, but it seemed weird no one ever sent gifts other than Haymitch the one time. This movie finally cleared it up that the donations go into an account for the mentors to spend, and finally that last lingering pet peeve in my mind went away.

Fun fact: They filmed the hunger games part first than everything else in a single week. Rachel's (Lucy Gray) first day on set was filming that super long scene in the bloodbath, and the first day she worked with Tom (Snow) was in the rebel bombing scene. That means they were actually able to show the other actors the scenes they filmed for the games when they were filming the mentors watching them.

There’s a theory that Reaper knew about the arena bombing because his district orchestrated it. When the tributes and mentors are touring the arena, Reaper tells Dill to stay close to him as if he was anticipating it.