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Franchise films are underperforming at the box office, so it's time to dust off old reliable "The Hunger Games" and see if there's still any passion for a storyline that seemed to have ended eight years ago. "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" is directed by series director Francis Lawrence and adapted from author Suzanne Collins' prequel book.

"The Hunger Games" series launched Jennifer Lawrence to global stardom, but movies don't seem to have that kind of power these days. The 2000s and 2010s were a booming era for YA adaptations ("Harry Potter," "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games" were the three most successful), but not every series that tried to be the next "Harry Potter" or the next "The Hunger Games" was successful (anyone remember "Divergent"? Of course not). Times have changed drastically since we last set foot into the dystopian world of Panem, so it will be interesting to see if this series is still attractive to once loyal audiences.

The movie serves as an origin story for Corolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), who lives with his cousin Tigris (Hunter Schafer) and Grandma'am (Fionnula Flanagan). In an effort to help his family survive, he becomes a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the heroine who doesn't always play by the rules, who he watches and helps through the Hunger Games.

So much more happens in "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" because the bloated 157-minute movie packs too much in. The movie - minus a murky scene or two - looks good and does its job immersing the audience in its world, while creating some genuinely tense and violent moments. But, the movie is told in three chapters and once the title card for the third chapter hits, the movie screeches to a halt. The pacing of the movie is erratic, and when the third chapter comes around it feels like a new movie is starting.

As a vehicle for its up-and-coming stars, "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" succeeds. Blyth brings a compelling intensity to young Coriolanus, even when the movie lets him down by forcing the character's conclusion a bit too neatly. Zegler, who broke out in Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story," continues to show that she has movie star chops and the right amount of charisma to hold the screen. The cast is rounded out with more established actors having a great time chewing up all the scenery, including Viola Davis' Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Peter Dinklage's Dean Highbottom, and Jason Schwartzman as the flamboyant emcee Lucky Flickerman.

There's a lot to digest with the latest "The Hunger Games" installment and the movie does have the courage to go dark (maybe even darker than the previous films), but it too often struggles to find its footing in any cohesive way. If you thought 2015 was the last time we were going to see this world, you were wrong. If you think 2023 is the last time we are going to see this world, you may be wrong again.