I had very few expectations going into this movie, in my opinion a Hunger Games prequel sounded like a great premise. But a few things were difficult to watch. Primarily that Lucy Gray was not the protagonist this series deserved. From a wavering southern bell accent (which vacillated wildly) to the near musical territory the movie wandered into, this HG prequel felt like a very long made for premium streaming exclusive. Redemption comes from Tom Blythe, who was phenomenal, but the third act dragged heavily and I found myself asking why he looked like Eminem in District 12. The odd love story between Snow and Gray wasn't helped by the sort of Gypsy bard rebel played by Rachel Zegler.
The movie had its moments but I was personally removed from the story every time Zegler had a different accent or used some southern turn of phrase. To me it just fell flat but made canonical sense in what really happened to Snow that sent him down his capital path.
The movie had its moments but I was personally removed from the story every time Zegler had a different accent or used some southern turn of phrase. To me it just fell flat but made canonical sense in what really happened to Snow that sent him down his capital path.