Too much of a good thing is absolutely possible, and the new Hunger Games iteration seems to be a victim of just that.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is as drawn out as its title suggests, and in this particular instance, less was definitely more.

Though it’s competently made, well-acted and gorgeous to look at, this prequel to the hit Jennifer Lawrence film series and page-turner books just doesn’t have the same immediacy as those offerings.

Its first fatal mistake is following the villainous Coriolanus Snow — who we all know from Donald Sutherland’s cold characterization in the originals — and yet we’re somehow expected to empathize with a man we know ends up evil.

Young Tom Blyth (Benediction) does his best to make us like a young man we’re programmed to despise, and he’s suitably swoon-worthy. But even he can’t overcome the task ahead of him.

Songbirds takes us through his graduation year in a ravenous, disparate Pane, — as he pushes to win the Plinth Prize that will set his family up for life — but the tables have turned this time.

The District tributes are each paired up with an advisor who, through their wit and cunning, must both make their tributes pleasing to the camera and giants in the field of battle. The winner of popular opinion and the Hunger Games will win the prize.

We know Snow’s reasons for helping District 12’s Lucy Gray during the 10th Hunger Games have ulterior motives, but there does appear to be enough subtlety in the writing to allow us to see both the good and bad in our star’s actions.

Blyth gives a layered performance, but it’s Rachel Zegler (the runaway star of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake) who makes this one worth it. She envelopes every scene with her easy charisma.

It helps that Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage and Jason Schwartzman all give supporting turns that almost make us forget how much we miss Stanley Tucci and Woody Harrelson.

Overall, director Francis Lawrence (who did all the previous instalments but the first) infuses energy and spark into this prequel, but fails to leave at least a half hour of unworthy footage on the cutting room floor.

As a result, Ballad feels like two movies colliding together, with a third act we transition into so quickly you’ll get whiplash. This prequel isn’t a bad movie, but it’s a very good movie that could have reinvigorated a whole franchise.

It’s a shame the Ballad Of Songs & Snakes strikes one too many false notes by its conclusion.

3.5/5 Stars