The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

I don't think they needed to make a new Hunger Games film, but considering how popular the series was, I'm not surprised they made one anyway. Without Lawrence, it's an even weaker film, with some extra lore I simply couldn't care about. I can only hope this isn't the start of something new, but a random one-off.

Fewer people are watching the Hunger Games, so they need to change something about the setup. The rich kids destined to become the new leaders of Panem need to prove themselves as mentors. They each are assigned a player in the Games, and they need to make sure their player delivers.

This prequel tells a different story from the main series, but the HG universe isn't interesting enough for that. It also feels slightly more childish compared to the first film, though that may just be my memory acting up. The budget is there, so there are some semi-impressive scenes, but it's not enough to save this film.