YMMV / The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

• Award Snub:
  • Much like "Atlas" infamously was snubbed out of a Best Original Song nomination ten years earlier for Catching Fire, "Can't Catch Me Now" was also overlooked for the category—especially when it made the shortlist of 15 after being one of the 94 eligible songs and would've been the first nomination for Olivia Rodrigo as well.
  • The movie failed to receive other technical nominations like Makeup and Hairstyling, Costume Design and Production Design too, meaning the series at large now for the last eleven years has failed to receive any recognition at the Academy Awards whatsoever.
• Awesome Music:
  • Rachel Zegler singing Lucy Gray Baird's original composition of "The Hanging Tree", which is somehow both haunting and light-hearted, and above all beautiful.
  • There's also Lucy Gray's powerful rendition of both version of "Nothing You Can Take From Me", first acapella during the reaping, and then a full performance with a band later.
  • Olivia Rodrigo's credits song, "Can't Catch Me Now", a beautiful guitar song with some great vocals.
• Catharsis Factor: Knowing the kind of ruler—or rather dictator Coriolanus becomes as President and seeing his quick; surgical and brutal killing of Highbottom that ties in with his uncanny ability to dispose of allies and enemies in very much the same manner when no longer needed, the idea that Snow managed even more power than Gaul—and that the atrocities she committed and prompted him to continue committing likely results in her being just another one of those people he got rid of when it best suited him does bring a sign of relief—and thus, she's destroyed by one of her own twisted creations in the process. This is especially relevant by the time the war does eventually end with Snow's government—something very much that she had a strong hand in forming—falling as well. Even more so, that the descendant of a prominent Capitol family (Plutarch) allied himself with the "savage" Districts she so thoroughly despised to do it too.
• Complete Monster: Dr. Volumnia Gaul is a misanthropic scientist and the architect of the Hunger Games . Gaul institutes a horrific system where teenagers from the Districts are forced to fight to the death for the Capitol's amusement. Gaul views the Districts as savages and even advocates bombing them into submission if they won't get in line. When the 10th annual Hunger Game gets ruined, Gaul releases venomous snakes to murder all the teenage tributes out of spite for her experiment being sabotaged. Gaul also corrupts and manipulates Coriolanus Snow and instills within him a monstrous Ambition Is Evil mentality, leading to the Hunger Games and Capitol's dictatorship lasting decades.
• Critical Dissonance: The film received lukewarm reviews from critics, however received much better reviews from fans.
• Draco in Leather Pants: With Coriolanus, more than in the book. Part of it is that he's portrayed as more troubled and sympathetic compared to the book, where he's clearly shown to be a narcissist, and the inevitable removal of his inner monologue also removes many of the more overtly negative aspects of his personality. Being played by Tom Blyth didn't help matters either.
• Ending Fatigue: Unlike with previous Hunger Games films, the games themselves do not coincide with the end of the story, and the film goes on for another hour afterwards, in effect feeling like watching two different movies together. Francis Lawrence indeed considered splitting the book into two films, but worried about the same backlash that happened when the Mockingjay film was split in two.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Just like in the books, Reaper and Lamina quickly became the favorite tributes amongst viewers thanks to Reaper's similarities with fan-favorite Thresh, his honoring of the fallen tributes, and his choice to face his death with dignity, and Lamina's heartbreaking dynamics with her district partner and status as a compassionate Cowardly Lion.
• Fans Prefer the New Her: As punishment for cheating in the games, Coriolanus is sent to become a Peacekeeper, which involves having all his hair shaved off. Tom Blyth actually looks really good with a buzzcut, and the uniform is also much more flattering than his clothes in the Capital.
• Genius Bonus: Hilarius Heavensbee while mostly omitted from the film altogether in all but name practically is still canonically representing Wovey and is seen conversing with her, to the point that his part in the story—as well as influence on descendant Plutarch later—still remains a Meaningful Background Event nonetheless.
• Moe: Wovey wins over fans a lot more than she did in the book due to being the youngest tribute, having Down Syndrome, and still surviving by hiding for a long time while showing a confused but optimistic outlook near the end.
• One True Threesome: A lot of fans have taken to shipping Coriolanus, Lucy Gray, and Sejanus together, as the former two are a canon couple, the two boys have a decent amount of Ho Yay, and the latter two's respective actors are in a relationship in real life.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Many fans are sore that Teslee gets Demoted to Extra and doesn't live long enough to take over a drone like she does in the book.
• The Woobie: This film is part of a dystopian franchise about kids being forced to kill each other for rich people's entertainment. More than a few characters qualify.
  • Jessup. He contracts rabies from the arena attack and spends his dying days in agony and delirium, mistakenly believing that his close friend Lucy Gray (who has in fact been risking her life to save him) has betrayed him.
  • Dill. She's a young girl suffering from tuberculosis, and Lucy Gray accidentally kills her by poisoning one of the Pack tributes' water bottles. Dill unknowingly drinks the poisoned water.

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