In my opinion, there are two major issues with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. First of all, the timing and momentum of the movie are too slow, and the acting is not on par with that of the original series' cast. While the original movies had a lot of fine acting and characters that I cared deeply about, I did not relate to any of the characters in The Ballad. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is not a total disaster, but it is mediocre at best, with some parts being too lengthy and others too short. Having read the original books and being mostly satisfied with both the books and the movie adaptations (despite their flaws), I cannot say whether the mess in storytelling is due to the book or just the movie's script, as I have not read The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Also Songbirds & Snakes reminds me of that bad last Star Wars trilogy - they copied everything from the original source but failed to catch the soul, charm and grandeur entirely, everything just felt formulaic, even dead.
