The "Hunger Games" Return in "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes"

Eight years have passed since fans last witnessed the cinematic spectacle of "The Hunger Games" series in theaters, a captivating journey that unfolded between 2012 and 2015.

Earlier this year, streaming site Netflix briefly revived the wildly popular young adult dystopian saga on their platform, making the entire series available for streaming for just one month. Fans seized the opportunity to reconnect with beloved characters like Peeta, Katniss, and Gale, propelling the dystopian narrative to Netflix's top 10 movies list for three consecutive weeks.

Now, marking its second comeback of the year, "The Hunger Games" returns to the big screen with the highly-anticipated prequel, "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes." Initial reviews are pouring in, revealing a spectrum of opinions.

The movie attempts to explain the origins of many of the characters from the previous films including the despot president Coriolanus 64 years before he becomes the president of Panem. The film follows him and how he goes about mentoring Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12.

In a nuanced review, IGN notes that the prequel possesses the familiar potent elements of its predecessors but suggests it requires more time to delve into its intricate narrative. On the contrary, the San Francisco Chronicle boldly bids farewell to the original trilogy, proclaiming the prequel as the zenith of the series.

With a 67% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, critics remain divided on the essence of this new "Hunger Games" installment: is it a commercial exploitation of a beloved franchise by Hollywood, or a creative and innovative reimagining of a well-known story?

If the fan resurgence we witnessed earlier in the year is any indication of the popularity of the movie, theaters in Kenya are poised for an influx of enthusiastic viewers eager to immerse themselves in the Hunger Games latest offering.

Tickets on KenyaBuzz.