Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire (15)

Dir: Zack Snyder

Cast: Cast: Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Michiel Huisman, Djimon Hounsou, Donna Bae, Ray Fisher, Cleopatra Coleman, Jena Malone, Ed Skrein, Fra Fee, Anthony Hopkins

The first part of Zack Snyder’s “original” sci-fi saga is derivative of countless better films from the genre that have come before it

Over the past few decades there have been significant turning points in cinema, from the age of new Hollywood in the 1960’s, all the way through to the comic book laden era of the 21st century. The latter of which seems to be finally coming to an end off the back of diminishing returns at the box office for several superhero sequels, such as the recently released The Marvels and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. With the age of Marvel dominance seemingly coming to an end, Hollywood is crying out for a new genre to step up and take its place. One that has managed to attract the masses sporadically for the past half century is that of the sci-fi epic.

Ever since George Lucas‘ Star Wars franchise hit the big screen in 1977, audiences have continuously sought out films that can immerse them in a Galaxy far far away, but unfortunately in recent years the amount of original sci-fi movies being produced is few and far between. However, recently we were treated to Gareth Edwards‘ excellent The Creator, which on a relatively modest budget, was able to bring to life an expansive futuristic depiction of Earth that felt completely original and lived in. Following on from The Creator, we now have the first part of Zack Snyder‘s two part space opera, Rebel Moon.

Despite garnering a large and devoted cult following throughout his career, Snyder has always struggled to appeal to critics, and following on from his improved extended release of Justice League in 2021, the 57-year-old would have been hoping to carry on his run of form with this highly anticipated, big budget epic. Personally, I believe Snyder to be very hit or miss, and whilst I do agree that his four-hour director’s cut of Justice League was a vast improvement on the original theatrical release, it was still far from perfect. Nearly twenty years after its release, I still feel that Snyder’s best work to date is his directorial debut, the frenetic and refreshing take on George A. Romero‘s zombie classic Dawn of the Dead.

Despite my reservations towards Snyder, being a huge fan of sci-fi in general and an ever bigger fan and advocate of truly original properties in the genre, I was hoping that Snyder’s latest passion project would live up to expectations of his loyal fans, but despite a promising opening – unfortunately it does not.

The film opens with Snyder’s version of the Star Wars title scroll, with an expository narration by Anthony Hopkins who explains the universe which we will be inhabiting for the subsequent two movies. We are informed that the galaxy is ruled by a militaristic Imperium called the Motherworld, who feed off conquest and war – sound familiar? We are first introduced to man who will be the film’s big bad, a sadistic Admiral for the Motherworld, Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein). Atticus and his troops arrive on moon of Veldt, where he confronts a small farming community regarding the whereabouts of a rebel clan, led by the Bloodaxe siblings. Noble proceeds to kill village leader Sindri (Corey Stoll) after a contradictory statement by chief farmer ,Gunnar (Michiel Huisman). Admiral Noble coerces the village to handover their crops, with the remaining harvest being overseen by troops from the Motherworld.

Former Imperium soldier, Kora (Sofia Boutella) defends a fellow female villager from being sexually assaulted by the soldiers, killing them in the process. Kora warns the villagers that they must mount a defence before Noble returns for the surplus crops, as he will most likely massacre the population. With little to no support from her fellow villagers, Kora and Gunnar travel the galaxy to recruit a team of skilled assassins and mercenaries to form a rebellion against Noble and his Imperium army.

I went into my viewing of Rebel Moon excited to be fully immersed in Zack Snyder’s unique vision of a galaxy spanning adventure. However, what I got was far from original and served as nothing more than a reminder that there are better films out there that I could be watching instead. There is no questioning that Snyder has a strong visual style, and even his biggest haters cannot deny the fact that he can craft kinetic action sequences, full of visual flair and ample, but often egregious, uses of slow motion. The same can be said here, for all the flaws I found with this film ,which there are plenty, Snyder’s visuals and use of colour still impresses at times.

For all the technical skill Snyder possesses as a visionary action filmmaker, he lacks with his writing. It is not surprising that Snyder has no screenwriting credits on the three films that are often cited as his strongest works: Watchmen (2009), Man of Steel (2013) and the previously mentioned Dawn of the Dead (2004). His poorly written characters and derivative story are what brings the first part of his ambitious sci-fi double header down. Snyder allegedly pitched ‘Rebel Moon’ to Disney and Lucasfilm as a new entry in the Star Wars saga and despite it being rejected by George Lucas and co. ‘Rebel Moon‘ has all the trappings of your typical Star Wars picture. We have the bog-standard, national socialist inspired villains, and the small gang of rebels out to overthrow them. We have morally conflicted androids and self-centred bounty hunters hanging out in cantinas, the list goes on. From character traits, designs and even their weaponry, the planets and their occupants in the ‘Rebel Moon’ universe feel like they were left on the cutting room floor by Lucas decades ago and Snyder has plucked them out of the void and attempted to bring them to life.

Star Wars is not the only work of fantasy that Snyder has a crack at imitating here, there are nods to other sci-fi classic such as Blade Runner, Starship Troopers and the more recent Dune. The most shameless plagiarism of an existing IP is a scene straight out of Harry Potter, right down to the like-for-like creature design – you’ll know it when you see it.

Amongst the borderline rip-offs and stereotypical sci-fi tropes is a cast of characters so painfully written, it is very difficult to invest or even care for them or their predicament. The central protagonists, clearly influenced by Akira Kurosawa‘s Seven Samurai, have very little emotional depth or development. What makes Kurosawa’s cast of diverse characters likeable, is their own individuality and charisma. This also is why the Star Wars franchise works so well, as space operas by nature have an element of campness to them and the central protagonists of Star Wars always provide levity, even in the most grim situations. Boutella’s lead character, Kora, takes herself way too serious and I am aware that Snyder is clearly going for a darker tone here but it makes it almost impossible to relate or bond with our central protagonist. Kora, however, is the only character of the film’s “magnificent seven” thus far that has anything even remotely close to a character arc, with her story of redemption mostly told in highly stylized flash backs. Boutella has largely been side-lined throughout her career but having seen her almost balletic performances in Kingsman (2014) and Gasper Noe‘s anxiety-inducing Climax (2018), she has proven she has the potential to be movie star, unfortunately for her, ‘Rebel Moon‘ will not be the launch pad she would have hoped.

Boutella’s talented supporting cast also have very little to do outside of a handful of decently choreographed action set pieces, with seasoned actors like Djimon Hounsou given very little screentime to make any sort of impact. Hopefully, with the release of the second part in April, we will get more out of this massively underutilised cast and I would not be surprised to see an extended 5-hour Snyder cut of ‘Rebel Moon’, in a desperate attempt to turn the two parts into one, more comprehensible feature.

Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire is now streaming on Netflix