The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is a super-prequel to the Hunger Games. Taking place when President Snow is very young, the film lets the audience know what happened in the beginning Hunger Games.

The director is the same as the other later Hunger Games movies, Francis Lawrence. He also directed I Am Legend and 2005's Constantine. The film seems the same as the other, but the writing feels vastly different and that might be because of Michael Lesslie who wrote the horrible Assassin's Creed movie. The message in the film is unambiguous that: behind every great man there's a strong woman. The problem is that Rachel Zegler doesn't give off strong woman vibes. There were other messages about how the elite subjugated the poor and disenfranchised and humanizing victims which was very popular in 2023.

There was something off about Rachel Zegler's accent throughout the film. She was supposed to be country but acts like a New Yorker or perhaps a Phili-girl. She's insufferable and inauthentic. Her costume is much higher in quality for a supposed poverty-ridden district. Her singing isn't up to what I expected from her. I heard she could sing from West Side Story but I don't see it here. She sure did angrily sing through a lot of the movie.

Coriolanus Snow is played by Tom Blyth. He isn't really known for much but after this film, he might be getting more roles. He does a decent job playing a young Snow. He has to play the part written for him so it's odd to see the main character pushed to the sidelines for his love interest to take center stage but none of that is his fault.

It is certainly better than Mockingjay Part 2 but it's still pretty poor. Result: D.

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Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)

Joker: Folie à Deux is a comic book musical and sequel to the stand-out hit Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix . I truly believe that Todd Phillips is trolling the comic book community with this film. It's weird, unwatchable at times, and nowhere near the first film. Even standing on its own without having the film be even considered a sequel it fails. It almost feels like WB was just paying him to make a sequel. Joaquin Phoneix doesn't phone it in. He just does what he's supposed to do and delivers a performance. He and Lady Gaga are really the only saving grace. While her rendition of Harly Quinn is nowhere near what was expected for a Joker film she still had a memorable but trying performance. Characters you forgot about come back and a few new ones that don't leave any impact other than to just be there and in the film. You see Harvey Dent but there's nothing to his character, partly at fault for hiring a no-name actor in Harry Lawtey who should stay on TV an

The Wild Robot (2024)

The Wild Robot is a DreamWorks science function adventure film based on the book series by the same name. Written and directed by Chris Sanders, the film feels like what Disney used to put out. The writing hits on similar beats like his other work Lilo & Stitch , The Croods, and How to Train Your Dragon. There is a definite switch from climax one to climax two and I felt more invested in the later third of the film but not so much at the beginning. There was a tad bit of FurnGully's environmental message in the film but the main message of how to be a mother was front and center. Lipita Nyong'o had to carry the film with help from Pedro Pascal and the best cameo of Bill Nighy . She voiced the robot while Pascal was the main supporting character of the fox Fink. I've grown tired of Pedro Pascal but his deliveries were enough for me to ignore my bias'. The worst voice actor was Brightbill's Kit Conner who must have some connection in Hollywood to land the

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Avatar: The Way of Water is the followup to James Cameron's original box office winner Avatar. Continuing Jake Sully's story, now protecting his family from Colonel Miles Quaritch again. Written and directed by James Cameron . The worst parts of the writing probably came from the writers of Mulan, both Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. In terms of direction, there was the expectation that Cameron would recreate some sort of magic of Avatar, Terminator 2, or even Aliens. I think Cameron gave the skeleton of the story and Jaffa and Silver added their own dialogue and beats. Cameron doesn't really write boring movies and I was bored through parts of the film. 3 hours and 12 minutes is a long time to have amazing dialogue and writing. Sam Worthington is back but you don't recognize him since he was barely in the first film except in his avatar form. Most people don't know Worthington. Maybe if you played the Call of Duty Black Ops games as he played Alex Mason. I most

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