In Panem, 64 years before the events of 2012’s The Hunger Games, young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) becomes a mentor in the 10th Annual Hunger Games in a bid to restore his family’s prosperity. Hunger Games co-creator Dean Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage) instructs the would-be mentors to concentrate on developing tributes to be entertaining, rather than winners, to increase viewership. Soon, Coriolanus is selected to mentor the rebellious folk singer Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) of District 12.

The original The Hunger Games film series made a break-out star of Jennifer Lawrence. JLaw’s Katniss Everdeen had a hero’s heart and adapted her hunting skills into the games while also learning to navigate the political landscape as well: Katniss branded herself to become more than a competitor, but a symbol to win the hearts and minds of the voting public. Lucy Gray is quite different in that, while a rebel, she is also a creative passivist, choosing to survive and influence her public through her art of song. Young Coriolanus starts off as a hopeful romantic, becoming more protective of his mentee from his side of the arena, while increasingly seeing to his own needs.

The design of these proto-games is retro, distinguishing themselves from their barbaric origins. While the characters’ ideologies and actions are set here to ripple decades into the franchise’s future, the movie’s last act rushes the characters’ development where another entry would have been more appropriate.

Verdict: A strong production with engaging characters, let down by a shoehorned fourth act. 3.5 stars.

Luke McWilliams, www.themovieclub.net.