Rebel Moon Part 2 — The Scargiver
Zach Snyder’s Rebel Moon Part 1: Child Of Fire released last December to pretty lousy reviews and a mixed audience reaction. I thought the space opera was a mixed bag—at once wildly derivative and filled with all of Snyder’s worst habits as a filmmaker, but more entertaining than I expected.
Rebel Moon Part 2: The Scargiver lands on Netflix today, and maybe that will help us determine what we think of the 2-part film as a whole better. Here’s the trailer:
In the first part of Rebel Moon, we were introduced to the heroes and villains of our tale. It’s basically a space opera version of Seven Samurai, in which a massive imperial army descends upon a small space outpost demanding grain. One mysterious resident of this town, Kora (Sofia Boutella), decides that they should fight back and goes on a quest to gather a group of rag-tag heroes to help her fight. The Magnificent Seven are gathered across the first film, with some fights and conflicts along the way, and by the end they return to face down the overwhelming forces of their true enemy.
See my full weekend streaming guide right here:
Rebel Moon was a bit all over the place. It needed more time to help establish character and the relationships between the various heroes Kora rounds up, but the pacing was all over the place. It felt both too long and too rushed somehow, and I think we probably needed a trilogy to really flesh things out enough without relying on big exposition dumps—though maybe less use of slow-motion would have freed up enough time for some more engaging dialogue.
Of course, Zach Snyder’s hard-core fans loved the movie and I’ve seen plenty of pushback even though my review was a lot more positive than most other critics. Despite my many problems with Rebel Moon, I still have hope that this could turn into a fun—if silly—space opera franchise.
Now Part 2 is out, and I’ve watched it—and somehow it’s taken all the worst bits from Part 1 and made them even more egregious, including Snyder’s bizarre obsession with slow-motion, which is overused to the point of self-parody. In my review I write:
Tedious, derivative and implausible beyond belief, Rebel Moon Part 2 makes Zack Snyder’s first film in this preposterous space opera franchise look great by comparison. If nothing else, that’s a remarkable feat.
What do you think of Rebel Moon? Let me know on Twitter and Facebook.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
