For those who are sad about the sun setting on the DC era of the Snyder-verse, please do not fret, for those miss slow-motion battle scenes, unnecessary lens flares, and dark gritty unsympathetic characters who seem pissed off about saving mankind, Zach Snyder has brought forth his vision of the future with the science fiction saga Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire for all to enjoy. Depending on your definition of "enjoy." At least, that was the intention. But it is doubtful that many will enjoy this wannabe Star Wars for much of anything other than one-star zingers on Letterboxd.
Conceived by Snyder decade ago, the original space saga is the story of Kora (Sofia Boutella), a former soldier-turned-member of a peaceful farming community on the planet Veldt whose livelihood is threatened by the tyrannical Imperium, led by Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein), who rule the Motherworld. To protect her people, she goes on a quest to gather warriors from different corners of the galaxy, with hopes of overthrowing the repressive regime.
This is an oversimplification of a perplexing, problematic story so jam-packed with mythos, exposition, and flashbacks that the central figures are given practically no time to develop into meaningful characters.
Rebel Moon is an aggressively mediocre space opera that is less of a coherent plot and more of an amalgamation of vignettes in which a grumpy galactic gunslinger gathers space hobos for her battle against celestial Nazis. With plot points seemingly cobbled together from Seven Samurai, The Dirty Dozen, Dune, and The Unforgiven, as well as a dozen or so other pop culture properties to come out in the last 50 years, Rebel Moon has little to offer in terms of originality. According to interviews, Snyder once had hopes for Rebel Moon to have a place in the Star Wars universe (at one point, a character makes use of non-Disney branded Lightsabers), but it omits the tenacity and thrills that the original trilogy is known and adored for.
But that isn't the main issue with the feature.
Synder's space opus not only lacks heart and humor, but it falls short on the fundamentals necessary for moviegoers to want to join a hero's journey. In Star Wars, viewers watch Luke evolve from lonely farm boy into a protagonist. During that journey, they can see themselves in Luke as he transitions from chump to champ. In Rebel Moon, none of that growth exists on screen. The audience doesn't experience the odyssey; they are just told about it in derivative flashbacks using half-baked characters who are just mildly amusing, at best.
The film itself is visually appealing except for an overuse of lens flares, but nothing about each new civilization or world seems unique except for Veldt, which only stands out because it has vegetation. Relying on his handy bag of tricks, Synder's use of slow motion to create "dramatic effect" during the battle scenes hits an all-time high in
Rebel Moon, overusing the trope to the point of parodying himself. Rebel Moon combines complicated world building with shoddy characters and substandard storytelling to create a lackluster narrative. The shortage of humor, heart, and humanity lessens the basic necessities required to create a compelling narrative, resulting in an uninspired sci-fi tale. Somewhere in there might have been a riveting epic for the ages, but that story is buried deep in intergalactic nonsense where aspects of fun and joy are far, far away.
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For those who are sad about the sun setting on the DC era of the Snyder-verse, please do not fret, for those miss slow-motion battle scenes, unnecessary lens flares, and dark gritty unsympathetic characters who seem pissed off about saving mankind, Zach Snyder has brought forth his vision of the future with the science fiction saga Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire for all to enjoy. Depending on your definition of "enjoy." At least, that was the intention. But it is doubtful that many will enjoy this wannabe Star Wars for much of anything other than one-star zingers on Letterboxd.