“They’ve got to let the body get cold,” said Jennifer Lawrence, when asked about her appetite for a Hunger Games prequel. Eight years on, the body has been deemed fit for resuscitation, though with JLaw nowhere in sight.In the original Hunger Games, based on Suzanne Collins’ wildly popular YA novels, we saw the dystopian nation of Panem through the eyes of Jennifer Lawrence’s underdog, Katniss Everdeen, who came from the country’s poorest district, 12. This prequel plays out from a different vantage point: that of series villain and future president, Coriolanus Snow.
A resident of the wealthy Capitol, the teenage Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) is a star pupil at one of the city’s best schools. But unlike his classmates, he can barely afford rent, let alone to continue his studies. A solution presents itself in the form of a cash reward for the mentor behind the winning tribute at the year’s 10th annual Hunger Games.
As punishment for their collective uprising, once a year, each of Panem’s districts must offer up two children who will battle in front of the public until only one remains. Mentors have been introduced to boost the ratings; the idea being that they can shape, and therefore sell, their tributes’ narratives.
Coriolanus is charged with folk singer Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler from West Side Story), a rebellious and strikingly pretty district 12 runt with cowboy boots and a country twang. “Your role is to turn them into spectacle, not survivors,” rasps Head Gamemaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis). Davis seems to be one of the few cast members actually having fun, hamming it up as a mad scientist emboldened by a tank of pet snakes.
But while Coriolanus may deliver on the promise of spectacle, the film fails to do the same. Action sequences are depicted in dusty grey and drab beige, largely confined to a dull concrete arena, while a chaste romance between Coriolanus and Lucy never ignites on screen.
Dialogue is leaden with exposition, sadly making this instalment feel like an annotated Wikipedia entry for its predecessors, instead of a clear continuation of their themes. By the time we get to the draggy third act, it’s still not clear what drives Coriolanus beyond a generic sense of entitlement. Blyth’s pretty face remains placid throughout, never selling the character as convincingly cruel or calculating. As the film’s protagonist, he’s hard to root for, and even harder to rail against.
So eight years on from the previous instalment, the body – as Jennifer Lawrence put it – may not be cold, but it is unappealingly lukewarm.
In cinemas on Friday
157 mins, cert 12A
