I dont think it was perfect but I still enjoyed it. I think this book would be hard to adapt. Snows inner monologue felt needed and wasnt there for the movie really. The accent with Lucy was also odd.
The thing I can't understand since we found out what the plot of the book was is this: why does Snow's hatred for Katniss have to come from a personal connection? Why can't he just be a power-hungry, politically savvy dictator who recognizes the danger in her because he knows political systems and he knows people? To me, the connection cheapens his character and his intelligence. He explained everything so well in those added scenes from the first movie. That was a stroke of brilliance from the filmmakers, and it was enough.
Imo the book *was* showing how Snow is just a power hungry manipulator. I think the parallels to Katniss are less a motive and more a highly poetic justice.
@@unnamedguard03 This! Plus, the added tragedy that he had EVERY opportunity to gain a new perspective (from befriending Sejanus, to straight-up living in the poorest district with Lucy Gray), and yet he still ended up making the decisions that he made, and justifying them all along the way. When I originally read the Hunger Games, Snow was always this ominous, almost inhuman figure that loomed over everything in a terrifying but intangible way. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes makes him real and human in a way that makes him even MORE terrifying (in my opinion) because as the reader (now audience member, with the movie), you're forced to follow him along on his journey of twisted, selfish logic, and it becomes frighteningly understandable how a well-intentioned teenage boy eventually turns into an evil, all-powerful dictator. I completely understand why some people feel the link to Katniss and District 12 in Snow's past might cheapen his character, but in my opinion, it only makes his character all the more real and scary. Is it "unrealistic" that the dictator of a country somehow had deep ties in his distant past to the very random girl who would someday end up unintentionally taking down his entire regime? Sure, it's super unrealistic. But this is fiction! I don't believe for a second that Suzanne didn't create this story without intention and meaning. And the poetic justice of it all in the end makes everything that happens later in Katniss' story that much more satisfying to me! Anyway, sorry to dump on you, I was just glad to see someone who I agreed with... Rant over XD I love Caleb's videos and I respect everyone's opinions, but watching this video made me feel like I needed to defend the story, but that might just be my own bias towards it
I think it adds a really cool angle, because instead of him being JUST a power hungry, evil man, there's more of a hidden reason that we didn't know about in the original series
That scene in A Salad of Bongbirds and Bakes where they brought Lucy Gay that swamp potato and she said "This plant is called KatPiss Buttercream" and Miss Anus said "People are dying, Kim"... I really felt that
WHEN LUCY GRAY SAID “when i was little my mama used to bathe me in buttermilk and rose petals..” I KID U NOT ALL I THOUGHT WAS CALEB WILL HAVE A FIELD DAY WITH THIS 😭😭
@@mckenziejeanne4508she then eats a petal of the rose and says tastes like bed time. It's supposed to be cute but eerie, as if she's the threat, but she's just someone who loves sweet things. It's one of my favourite scenes.
The thing that made the book stand out (and couldn’t be properly conveyed through a film medium) was it’s use of The Unreliable Narrator, knowing that while Snow is acting proper and polite on the outside he is cruel and calculating in his thoughts, all his friendships are completely fake and used only for his own social gain. He sees Lucy Gray as less an equal, and more an object that belongs to him. He thinks the people in the districts “don’t count as people.” Without his internal monologue I imagine his sudden turn at the end might seem out of left field to audience members who hadn’t read the books and don’t know what he’s actually thinking. Book to movie adaptations just don’t work sometimes, and unfortunately I think this is one of those times.
Snow's not unreliable as a narrator at all, he's extremely clear throughout about what he's thinking and his lack of empathy. Lucy Gray is the only blind spot because we never know if she actually loved him or if she was playing up his ego to survive the entire time.
@@blueskybelyr yeah I wasn’t as clear as I meant to be, Snow’s perception of Lucy Gray is specifically where the unreliable narrator comes in. It makes the reader question if she really is using Snow, or if he’s just projecting his own way of thinking onto her
Absolutely annoying how much the new fans discredit Katniss. its not like she knew about any of that lucy stuff. she was literally just trying to survive. they even criticized how she did during the 74th games…
@@user-yj7cu5sk2wshe's a blueprint cuz she's basic though imo. That's the tradeoff. Kinda moody and selfish, but caring. Meh, I cared more about the setting or other characters hahaha
@@nailinthefashion well, yeah. I was being a lil facetious, I’ll admit. I do the same in my defense of Taylor Swift. But genuinely, though? Katniss did kinda “revolutionize” your standard female protagonist Written For Teen Girls…. namely by doing the bare minimum of not being fucking toothless.
@@user-yj7cu5sk2w has anything successfully imitated it to you? I don't think Katnip had enough gravitas to actually be replicated hahaha. Divergent tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it didn't even matter. I think of more brash or stoic women like Kill Bill or Captain Marvel and think Katniss is like a declawed hissing cat not unlike Buttercup. Johanna is the best HG character to me. Lost it all, had nothing to live for, just did it out of spite to see her enemies burn. Now that's a protagonist I wanna see the journey of, where's that spin off? Dayum, just more Snow... okay..
The author fcked Katniss real bad with this book. Like, the fans of the book and movie actually believe that Katniss based her whole persona on Lucy Gray- a character born more than 10 years after Katniss. Argh!!!
I fell into a dead sleep staying at a friend’s house while watching your air Bud video and she came into turn the tv off at one point. She asked wtf I had on the next morning and I had to explain that I passed out to a video essay about Air Bud Every time I see you upload now I relive that moment. your content is entirely worth that bit of eternal embarrassment
@@thelifeofgiowho cares about nuance or entertainment thru adversity? Diversity of opinions, who is she? I frogging LOVED the film and am gonna watch it again after going thru the og
16:12 God i disagree with him so often. Victims do not need to be sad. She sang out of anger and pride. She's not defeated even in the face of death. For someone who reads a ton he's not that perceptive sometimes, it's so jarring hahahah Anyway, Divergent bad.
I loved that how he refers to him only as "young hot president snow". Never coriolanus, corio, or just plain and simple snow, but always the "young hot president snow"
The hungry games prequel ironically makes some of the scenes in the original hungry games kinda goofy. Like, do you think Snow was gagged when a girl called Katniss from district 12 became a tribute?
probably not tbh. His first thought would probably be “some half wit from 12 named their child after a potato flower, they’re such a joke of humanity.” Lucy didnt invent the name katniss for what to call swamp potatos.
The movie was… odd. It felt like a musical combined with violence lol. Every time she sang, it felt awkward and cheesy. I did like the actor for Snow and he helped make it not so terrible but overall the characters just weren’t engaging to me.
well it’s part of lucy gray’s character to be a performer. singing is her whole thing. the only time i thought it was unnecessary was when she was reaped.i really liked the film though.
@@charthesmile I realize that and it’s not what I have an issue with, a lot of the singing just felt more like a musical vs feeling natural and part of the movie. Especially the reaping and then also later at the end of the games - when she was singing on tv or at home in 12 it felt a lot more natural. Just felt like they realized she had a nice voice and tried to stick in as many singing parts for her in there.
@@skinsciencebymira yeah the singing during the interview, snakes, when she was alone, and when she was performing all made sense, but the random singing over them swimming in the lake felt out of place.
I will say the lack of insight of Snow's internal thoughts really lost a crucial part of the storytelling. He was plotting since day one, but it seems sudden switch in the movie. Lucy Gray has an accent because District 12 is around the Appalachian area and I feel like the Covey spent must of their time inbetween the Districts in the more rural parts, so probably picked up that bluegrass-y accent.
I totally agree with her singing, it was really good but thats the issue! It shouldnt have sounded so "im thinking so hard about what my vocal coach taught me", it should sound like the character has emotions
TBH I think that’s the way Rachel sings and it has a lot to do with her training-she has extensive musical theater training which is good but not realistic for her character.
The reason Katniss' singing for Hanging Tree works so well is because the POINT of her character is she isn't cosmically special. She isn't a "chosen one" because she has a special talent or magic on her side like Harry Potter or genetically special like Tris. She was just a girl doing what she thought was best for her family and trying to survive, she just happened to be in the right place at the right time. It was serendipitous. Jennifer Lawrence's voice sounding amateur added to that idea, that face of the revolution isn't some glamorous super star. She's an everyman. This is what makes her relatable and compelling, both to fans in real life and those in the universe of the books. This is kinda lost with Lucy Grey's polished singing scene.
The character is a performer tho. Singing is all she did before the reaping. I think the singing was extremely emotional especially when you take into account that Rachel sang live take after take and that it wasn't a studio take. There is no way they could have made the singing any more raw. I am not really sure what people expected from a character who is a performer and singer... It is also part of her culture. I would have had a major issue if she sucked and didn't sound like she had been singing a day in her life.
@@KJ-st5tz I get where you are coming from but I gotta disagree on one specific part. The live singing adding to it. So what she sang it live. They did that for the movie version of Les mis. Anne Hathaway's performance conveyed pain and was an overall great performance. The musical Hamilton had multiple emotional musical performances. The problem with her performance was it gave "Go the Distance" from Hercules and not "Burn" from Hamilton. She needed to exercise more control and pull back to make room to place emphasis in certain parts. You cannot add emphasis if your whole message is in Caps lock.
@@pandaninja_19 I think the live singing did add a lot as singing in a concert compared to singing on a record feels and sounds different. It has to come from the heart and for me, that is what it sounded like. It definitely doesn't sound like "go the distance" from my account, and it just sounded like a skilled performer singing what she knew. Now the direction the director and Rachel decided to go for with the type of emotion and weight they put on the lyrics are all down to direction and intention. I think claiming she needs better control sounds quite silly considering how much talent and skill she has as a performer. Even more so when you realise how much control one has to have to do the same singing take over and over again for a whole day. I thought the singing gave me the exact emotions and impact I need from the character based on who she is and what she is trying to accomplish and express. You think otherwise, and that is okay, you might have directed or sung it diffrently. So I suppose we will have to agree to disagree :)
I totally hated the book and expected to hate the movie too but I just watched it today and actually really liked it. definitely some cringe/disappointing aspects but I thought it did a way better job of making the story entertaining than the book did. its been interesting for me to hear all the different opinions from those who liked it vs those who hated it
sometimes i think that im so naive and really bad at criticizing media i like... but like im literally just a teenager i need to let myself enjoy things
And you should!! I think we can criticize media, while still enjoying it. I mean there's some bad animated movies that I adore just because of the memories I associate with them.
I'm 26 and just recently fell down a rabbit hole reading my old journal entries where I wrote about books I read when I was 16... and was like wow I did not have good media criticism skills then! But it's a skill that comes with time (*and practise), and you're still allowed to enjoy things. Just be open to hearing other people's opinions and interpretations! And keep liking what you like if it brings you joy 😊
this is absolutely the time to enjoy things! if you liked this movie, im so glad and don’t feel like you have to criticise it or anything-it’s fine to just like it! for me though, i’ve always found a personal enjoyment in critiquing and analysing the media i both like and dislike. but that doesn’t make me any smarter nor does it make my opinion any more important. it’s just my current way of having fun with stuff. tldr: enjoy things how you want to and in the ways that make you happy ❤️❤️
Some people have fun being critical of media and analyzing everything, other people have fun just chilling and watching the movie. Both are fine. Let yourself consume art/media whatever way makes you happy :)
always like what you like! just be open minded to valid criticisms. you can recognize that something maybe isn't perfect but still enjoy it, and you don't have to be a professional critic about it either :) i feel like most people online get so caught up in either reading way too much into everything or getting upset that something they like isn't universally beloved, and i think the happy medium solution is again just being aware and understanding of differences.
I really liked the movie, its quite book accurate and I agree the third part was a bit boring. I wish they went deeper into the relationship between Lucy Gray and Snow, and showed more how unhinged and untrustworthy he was. But I LOVED his breakdown and turning point at the end, just that it was a bit unpredictable for those who haven´t read the book and know how awful he really is
I‘m sorry but you can‘t hinge a movie on having read the book. It has to stand on it‘s own two feet. And I just felt really confused in the theater. Like the only reason Snows character ark made any sense to me was because I knew who he would become. My mom on the other hand just plain did not get it. It‘s just not well developed at all. Almost no screen time is spent on actually developing Snow as a character. He just does shit for the most part and you just sit there and have no idea why he does it. Like holy shit add some scenes where he actually develops as a character. It doesn‘t need to be faithful to the book if that means having a character that is very obviously supposed to have a ton of inner monologue not have that monologue but do the exact same shit.
i agree , if u cannot translate things from the book to on screen exactly, then at least find a way to portray those developments in a different way @@epimisti
@@epimisti I mean I haven’t read the book and only just got back into the series after this film, and my friends hadn’t even read the books or watched the movies, but we understood what was happening perfectly fine.
I kid you not, this is what i thought this film was about when I went in and then instantly remembered it was about snow 😂 Haymitch would make a way better prequel
Am I the only one who finds that to be lacking? In Catching Fire, Katniss & Peeta are watching tapes of past victors to surmise their strengths and weaknesses. They watch Haymitch's and Karniss explains his games in entirety, basically. The arena was a meadow, and it gave off the allure of comfort from a beautiful scenery but it was revealed that most of the flowers and smells were poisonous, and that cute animals and insects like squirrels and butterflies were carnivorous and a huge threat. His Game ended by discovering the end of the arena that ended with a cliff, that was protected by a force field that he used as a weapon to kill his final opponent by knowing that she would throw an axe, which would be thrown downwards but come back up again due to the force field, killing her with her own weapon. I'm rereading the series and I literally just got to that part. You know who I think would be better for a background story? Cinna. We know nothing of his past, and he is the one who pretty much starts the rebellion by designing her dresses that are used in her rebel symbolism. He directly defies Snow by making her wedding dress in the 2nd interview with Cesar, turn into the Mockingjay. He knows that will get him killed, and he does it anyways. He was young and hardened from day 1 of meeting Katniss. He's a member of The Capitol, but yet he possesses a rebel heart from the beginning. What caused him to be like this?
I'm so confused bc when the book came out sooo many booktubers were like oh this book is so bad it shouldn't exist etc and fast forward to like last year/this year everyone had a nostalgia phase w the hunger games and suddenly everyone liked the book and were excited for the movie??? And i see people saying they loved it???? I thought everyone hated the book😭 I am no stranger to forgiving stuff from my fave franchises that is bad so I respect it but it was WILD to see people's change of opinion over the years
For me with the reviews I was scared to read it and then when I actually did I was kind of confused by a lot of the complaints tbh because I didn’t read it that way and it’s personally my favourite one in the series, I think a lot of people hated it originally because they were already hating on it before it even was released because they couldn’t get over the fact it was about a young president snow when they wanted one about people like Haymitch or finnck, I’ve seen a lot of people the last year or so say that’s a big reason why they didn’t like it but when they gave it a chance again they could appreciate it more
it was reviews like this movie review that made a lot of fans not want to read the novel, but a lot of people decided to read it anyway and enjoyed it. people will let nostalgia ruin a reading experience. it’s strangely odd that only this fanbase has a problem with gatekeeping the villain, like it’s some historical text. but anyway, that’s just my opinion. the book was great.
it was entertaining but way too long and overall unnecessary. we didn’t need a reason for president snow to hate katniss, we didn’t need a reason for him to be a villain. he doesn’t need to be anything more than a power-hungry dictator, and he was already interesting as that. i do agree with people that it should’ve been a show
I actually think it was a great decision by the author to write a story centered around Snow as it gave her room to write commentary about something I think is very needed and important, which is... "how do the people who execute violence see themselves and justify themselves and how do those complacent to it do so as well?". But also a debate on nature vs. nurture. I feel like reading the book as an explanation for why Snow hated Katniss is missing out on the larger theme. It is important to not just have stories with one-dimensional villains. Especially in a book series dedicated to explore the human condition and the many atrocities we witness and live with around the world.
Snow did not hate Katniss he hated what she represented, he actually respected her and wanted her to work with him within the system that he created. Katniss represented a different type of survival that went against everything snow worked so hard to build. Snow saw status, power and control as means of survival. Idk why you are determining what we needed when its not your series, and you didnt even understand why this addition was created.
also my guess was that snow would have his villain arc bc lucy died in the hunger games so when she survived i was like 😳 i feel like i need to read the book now
honestly this just made me think it should've been a literal stage musical. when you were showing the part with lucy singing after she won i was like "this is such an act i finale thing to do" lol
disappointed they didn't include beanpole and bug i think my biggest problem with the movie and the book is that it makes it seem like snow's problem with katniss was on personal level and not because she's the symbol of the revolution that's trying to topple his dictatorship (i liked it just as a movie though lol)
What I personally mean with the third act being rushed is that the important plot bits were really oddly paced. I feel like there were whole musical numbers, swamp potato everdeen references, scarf gifting scenes, falling in love shenanigans, etc. But then the whole Sejanus plot, Lucy Gray leaving because of what, lbh, could just have been a miscommunication, Snow turning into a shouting, raving madman and then into a sinister, calculating one... It all seemed to happen in the last 15 minutes. Idk if that's actually the time frame, but that's how it came across.
I loved this movie omg 😪 I was so captivated by it, I couldn’t look away. The actors were amazing, especially Tom and Rachel, who really made me feel Lucy’s emotions when she was singing
@@Cat-oj5ojI watched the movie with my friends and one of them said she found him so hot in the scene he was shirtless and added "but he just had to ruin it 😔" it fucking killed me lmao
I’d say the best element of the film is the ambiguity, like if you’re in Snows head Lucy Grey gets most of the “oh is she being genuine” but with both of them being hard to read and manipulative when they need to be I feel like there will be some reading into how much was them being corrupted and how much was alway a part of them for years. And like they explicitly say the ambiguity over Lucy Greg’s ending is a major influence on his character long term. Like both can be read as fake AF from the start and saying and doing whatever would benefit them or as characters with ideals that slowly get corrupted by facing how thing are in their reality or a mixture or something else.
The expository dialogue “sing your way out of this one Lucy gray” zooms in ominously was so unnecessary liek they really thought the audience was dumb, but then we didn’t get any of snows internal dialogue towards the end so it’s like he just went crazy all of a sudden rather than havi by been a little off the whole time like in the book
I’m so tired of the trope now of villains needing a backstory to explain them. Snow was a political figure who hated Katniss because she threatened his power/position, that’s all he needed to be. It was simple but effective, it served the story well.
I don't quite think that this falls into that category specifically I mean he was bat shit crazy from the start. I think what Suzanne was trying to point out is that he had every opportunity to not become what he became. He is still power hungry and that's what ultimately became his downfall. Lucy Gray and Senjanus only amplified that.
@@allidoisdreamaboutcats9646exactly! the point was just showing how powerful his feeling of entitlement to power and birthright were. he started okay(ish)?? but the minute he had an opportunity to get power, he immediately could not stop at any cost to get it. the backstory doesnt detract from how inhumane snow is in the og hunger games series, but it does give some context to how fascism became evermore present in the capitol and how unstable the system was. i kinda find him even more impressively cruel and calculated considering everything we learnt from the prequel. lucy and sejanus are essentially the opportunities he had to be a better person that he didnt take (or completely tried to destroy). the story also gives context to tigris and she plays a role in the 2nd revolution.
@@allidoisdreamaboutcats9646 I get that and I agree that yes it does show how he’s always been power hungry, it still cheapens the character (IMO) by making him batshit crazy. Snow was never shown that way before and that’s why he was intimidating. He was always cool calm and collected and fully on board, he never felt like someone who was crazy in that sense, he was someone who fully believed in something crazy. It would make more sense to show him breaking down and going batshit in the movies than a prequel. I would have loved if the movie was just about how the hunger games themselves started instead of focusing so much on the characters.
@@supergingerr You do also have to take in account that he's about 18 in the prequel and around 82 when the trilogy starts he had decades to perfect his mannerisms and how he presents himself. And when I say batshit crazy I mean he was always a douche. ( Probably should have worded that better) Plus the Trilogy is written from Katniss' perspective we don't know what he was thinking and on top of that being terrified of.Snow and what he could do. ( Also I agree it would've been cool to see how the very first hunger games started )
I think she sang angrily and undefeated and it fit the lyrics of the song that she sang during the reaping very well. I think it would have been cringe and weird had she sung during the reaping and the games in a sad way. It also would have felt totally unnecessary and out of place. Like this, her singing was a symbol of rebellion because they could not take away her voice and her joy for music. I think it was a very conscious decision of the director to do it this way since Rachel Zegler can sing very differently too
also, the first hunger games is the strongest YA dystopian film I've seen come from that era. They had the blueprint mapped out for them and still disappointed
What really took me out was that they were all so old. Like -- isn't young hot president Snow supposed to be like 18? And the tributes? At max 18, right? There were some grown ass adults in there. Instead of giving child sacrifice they gave taxes and student loan debt.
Because Katniss and Peeta and Gale all looked 17 throughout the OG movies? Bffr they do this in movies all the time. Hardly the most pressing problem it had
@blueskybelyr Friend - hey! Tough day? :/ But, friend, I never said it was the most pressing issue - it was but one aspect of the movie that I found funny. I know it's done a lot, don't you worry, friend. You want a sophisticated critique of the movie? Maybe you'll find it elsewhere, but certainly not in the comment section of a funny lil YT video :/
@blueskybelyr The first thing I thought of was "Oh naur, Cleo! The condensation!". My initial comment was just a light-hearted response to a light-hearted video - you started being condescending by assuming/presuming stuff and taking it a lil too serious. Chill!
9:03 She, and everyone from 12 during those days, had accents. You can tell by how the sentences were formatted in the book, they're read with a southern/appalachian kind of accent. Ik you acknowledged this but it was one of those details that hardcore fans were hoping for. I'm glad they included it(the more details the better), even if it was choppy at times.
I strongly disagree about her singing - she has SO MANY emotions in her voice, she just isn’t sad, she‘s ANGRY. It’s very raw and powerful and she conveys that perfectly through her raspy belting and her facial expressions. Maybe it’s a musical theatre thing but I think it fits her rebellious character much better than if she sang it in a sad, demure, quiet way
@@g.quagmire7583 I think she felt like she was charming the snakes. Lucy Gray had a special relationship with snakes back in her district and I wouldn’t be surprised if she made friends with them by singing to them.
....thats literally the whole point in the books, like they straight up say that exactly in book one because her father names her after a reliable and beautiful food source that allowed her family to survive, he told her "as long as you can find yourself youll never starve" its also a nod to book 2 where you learn that that lake was what katniss learned to swim before everything went to shit
this movie seemed like such an a**pull honestly 😭 lowkey i feel like people are being insane bc they’re like “omg look how snow reacted in the hunger games. that’s bc of lucy gray’s history with him!!” like no? it feels like lucy gray was just added into the narrative randomly
watched this movie w my friends at one of their houses, and we called short haircut girl “irish potato farmer” also the singing when she won the games felt so fake when katniss sang for rue you could tell she was dehydrated, tired, and sad lucy just sounds like she stumbled out of les mis
The rabies thing completely took me out of this movie because people and animals with rabies ARE NOT AFRAID OF WATER. They're unable to swallow, and choke while they're trying to drink, which makes them panic.
I love your occasional video drop. It reminds me that I used to be a major book nerd in middle/high school. I feel like we've both grown out of that phase, and yet we're still here.
I just came out of the movie and I went to the bathroom when they were at the lake so I missed the ✨️genius foreshadowing✨️ of the katniss plant, now I'm laughing so hard
I agree to an extent. I think they did a decent job with the time they were given. People forget that they only have 2 hours to tell a long, complex story and that choosing what to keep in and cut out must be quite challenging bc ur basically having to re-write the entire story while still keeping the original story at the forefront. I do think it should have been 2 films with the second film going into more detail about Snow and Lucy’s relationship in District 12 and Snow’s decent into corruptness. I thought the acting was phenomenal and both Rachel and Tom gave a great performance!
YES. The way they put so many references that were actually just tell us to our faces "do you remember? From the original trilogy? We have it here!" was a big problem for me. It's like suzanne just made a collage with all the thg facts she remembered
there’s something particularly frustrating to me about sequels that feel the need to over-explain the origins of all the interesting things & characters from the original 😭 it’s like with the Han Solo movie where they explained why his last name is “Solo”, and showed where he got his gun, and how he met Chewie, allll in the same movie it always feels so unnatural, because you know all of these arbitrary connections are for the audience’s sake. so that we can go “oh, that’s The Thing! that’s where it’s from!” even though you know that the writer only came up with it after the fact; it’s not something that was planned from the beginning
I personally really loved the book so I guess this will just be one of those videos I won't relate to :) I haven't seen the movie yet tho! I'm guessing I'll have a higher chance of liking it as I really enjoyed the book itself.
@@Jacob42086 It is good for those who love the social and political commentary that the books are built on. The themes are explored so well, and it is sad to see how many people seem to miss out on the ver intentional and clear questions that were explored in this story centered around Snow.
Tbh i was disappointed by the movie act 3 was so boring and every time i thought the movie was going to end it just didnt. Ppl on tiktok saying its better than the original 4 are crazy
Considering I only knew about or read the book because of your original video, this is the only review I’ve been waiting for . I’m as maddened as I ever was by how many people absolutely adore Lucy and discredit Katniss bc of her because, as loathed as I am to use a term like Mary Sue in 2023, sis comes as close as possible in a dystopian YA setting. ANYWAY Viola David served and Hunter Schaefer was gorgeous.
yeah i hated this movie too. the script was terrible, the performances weren’t compelling at all. i haven’t read the book yet and now i don’t plan to. when lucy gray mentioned katniss (the plant) it genuinely pissed me off 😭
It didn’t anger me because katniss was always mentioned in the first book as a plant outside of the fence in the woods, especially at that same lake and that’s what her dad named her after
Okay is it just me? but I did NOT enjoy the direction Viola Davis took the character. It felt very corny, very Disney channel villain. Personally I cringed. The extra costuming didn’t do it for me the way Capitol fashion did in the other movies.
As someone who has never read/seen Hunger Games, I can't form an opinion until Caleb lets me know what to think on this important but very specialized subject :D
The point was that Lucy named the plant Katniss, and so her parents named her after a swamp potato. It sounds pretty, but she's pretty plain. I don't think Katniss was interesting on her own, only with context with her family or lovers.
Thank you but it’s just that he scares me because he is not afraid to straight up trash and murder movies and I wonder what would happen if I wanted him to see my writing
Caleb, you're not the only one who had a funky theater experience. My theater had a weird-ass audio discrepancy, so the music was appropriately loud and encompassing, while the actors talked like they had pillows over their faces. I still enjoyed the movie, but GAWD that kept taking me out of the immersion. Seeing it again just so I can get a proper viewing this time! 😅 I will agree with some negative reviews that've said the movie has strange pacing issues. I wasn't sure if it's because I've been reading the book lately, but Act 1 felt SO rushed. I low-key internally fangirled at hearing direct lines from the book, but it def. felt like they were skipping around it as quickly as possible to get to the Games. Act 2 was definitely the best, as it slowed down and let us properly know the characters. But the performances were fantastic, there were genuinely funny moments, and I liked exploring this new side of Panem. 👏🐍 Best interaction in the movie by far: Dr. Gaul: "Fueled with the terror of becoming prey, see how quickly we become predator." Coriolanus: "Those tributes don't have a choice." Dr. Gaul: "I was talking about *you."* 🌟👏 17:20 Ha ha, I liked hearing Caleb sing that parody version of "The Hanging Tree!" 😆
I have not seen the movie nor read the book (I've read the first 3 though) so everything you're telling us is new to me and I literally had to pause the video at 15:54 because I started laughing so hard. Was not expecting that. Super funny. Amazing.
I actually really liked the movie but you are so completely accurate with all your critics 😭😭 Never read the book but i thought everybody in the movie was calling Snows friend Sir Janus until now lol
The accent startled me too, but then I read that it’s an Appalachian accent because Appalachia is where District 12 is set. Regarding the singing, I love Rachel Zegler but the reaping scene made me laugh out loud in the cinema, it feels so unserious and unrealistic. In general the spontaneous songs felt kinda goofy
Yeh I hate the reaping scene. Just feels weirdly silly. Then the whole “you can kiss my ass!!!” like you’ve got people on Twitter being like “yesss queen” - Just really embarrassing for a hunger games movie.
This review was really entertaining. I disagree with most of what you said. I read the first three books several years ago so I don’t remember much of the plot. I only watched the first movie. I enjoyed the prequel movie a lot. I agree that the Katniss references were way too on the nose. I think the singing was appropriate as Snow told Lucy Gray she needed to sing to get the audience on her side. Her appeal was that she was a good singer not just that she sang. I didn’t think Sejanus was too preachy. I thought he was really naive and out of touch and that was fitting. He clearly felt a lot of guilt from benefiting from the suffering of others. I thought the pacing could have been better. It drag on in some areas and there was a little too much singing.
I also didn’t think that Lucy Gray is the reason Snow hated Katniss. He was going to hate Katniss regardless. Katniss was displacing him. I see very little parallels between Katniss and Lucy Gray. I think the references were just bad easter eggs. I wish they spent more time showing Snow and Lucy Gray’s relationship. The first promotional poster made it seem like the movie would center the love story more. I read negative reviews about the inner dialogue with the original movies so maybe that’s why it wasn’t featured in this one? Maybe they could have used fantasy sequences instead.
Thank god... someone who understood the themes and messages of the story. Reading the comments made me dizzy from how strangely people interpreted the very obvious and intentional criticisms and messages Collins made.
I can understand the valid critiques that come with the movie, but I hope you will consider the problem with insinuating that Lucy Gray’s accent makes her sound unintelligent. Her accent is one that many real people have, and is regional to Appalachia. There were many people who saw themselves represented in her. I think we should keep the critiques to the performances, writing and pacing. To associate a regional accent with someone’s intelligence in any way is exactly what Snow did in the books.
That point bugged me as well. I loved that Lucy had the accent and kept it even while singing, the whole classism divide that accent brings up was an important one being shown in the film.
Hi! I just want to clarify this. When I say that the accent sounds “stupid” I’m not saying people with this accent are unintelligent. I’m saying that Rachel Zegler is bad at acting. The cringy dialogue they make her say is another factor in her sounding “stupid”. If anything I should have said “cringy” in this section because that’s more of what I’m going for. Sorry for the miscommunication here.
I didn't finish the book but I liked the movie...not because of the plot of course, I only loved Viola Davis and Tom Blyth. I do not condone "I can fix him" mentality...but I can fix him. (Edit: I actually liked some of the tributes but not because how great and developed their characters were but kind of a pity like, I liked Lamina and Wovey(even though they didn't do anything really))
I feel like they missed the whole idea of song being important in a revolution. The reason the hanging tree worked so well in the hunger games is because it’s a simple tune that anyone can sing and the words are easy to remember. There was no reason for her to be belting 🤣🤣
lucy gray being the original singer and writer and maude ivory and coryo being the only two people who have heard it means that the melody and how the song goes would change as it gets passed on so the change from the original “belting” to the simple tune we heard from katniss makes sense since the song was passed down orally for 60+ years. also lg, at least in the film, was a belter so you cant fault her for that
From the book I wish they would’ve taken parts of Act 3 and cut them and added more character development to other tributes making it seem like Lucy Gray might not win, they made it so obvious in the movie it was her going to win, when in the book you actually and hopefully suspected her winning but weren’t entirely sure she would. Idk maybe i’m dumb lmao (also Teslee, the girl tribute from 3, being completely cut out of the games is a crime, tf was them sending drones for water lmfao, give my DRONE GIRL her MF SCREENTIMEEEE)
i agree with everything from your book review but i actually liked the movie! Idk if its cause it was a movie so its automatically more digestible/entertaining but i came out of it thinking it was pretty good despite the source material. but even though i thought it was good the whole concept being unnecessary still stands, at the end of the day i dont like that snow has a personal connection to katniss
Thank you, Caleb, for always keeping it real. My BIGGEST gripe in this movie is Rachel Ziegler’s portrayal of Lucy Gray. It was not AT ALL how I imagined her to be in the book. I kept thinking “this is not the Lucy Gray that won the hearts of a country”. Her acting of Lucy Gray wasn’t good and they only picked her because of her music background and her popularity in Hollywood since Westside Story.
Okay and? It's a book. Everyone envisions the characters differently. People make videos on how they never imagined Lucy Gray's dress to be how it is. Does that make the way the made it wrong? Of course not. It is a bit silly to think that a character is poorly made because they are not how you wanted them be like.
literally I couldn't care less about the characters. juicy grey felt like a useless female protagonist. Snow himself becoming a redpill incel because lucy gay dumped him. At the start he was supposed to be "good" but he makes suggestions like "why don't we take bets!". he's literally contributing to an oppressive system so bad even his family ain't living good and yet he's like yeah kill em girls are mean and I want a new jacket. I'm deleting this movie from my mental space.
