Rebel Moon is the long awaited Sci-Fi saga from Zack Snyder (Justice League / Man of Steel) which has been in development for years, eventually being given the go ahead with a reported budget in the region of $166 million dollars by Netflix.
The streaming giant had previously worked with Snyder on his post-apocalyptic zombie flick Army of the Dead (2019) and part one of his epic space-opera landed on Dec 21st – a two hour and fifteen minute journey which introduces a gigantic ‘new’ concept with multiple characters, while setting up the finalé of the story by way of chapter two – The Scargiver – which arrives in April 2024.
Rebel Moon has clearly been a labour of love for Snyder and could be considered the pinnacle of the Dawn of the Dead (2004) and 300 (2006) director’s career, although it has come to pass that the film currently showing on our TV screens is a somewhat watered down ‘PG-13’ version and his fully realised R-rated ‘Snyder-cut’ is still to come.
The movie opens with a Dune-esq monologue from Sir Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs) who voices the robot Jimmy and provides the background and set up for the story, explaining that the Galaxy has been under the control of the Motherworld for 1000 generations. But factions of rebellious armies have banded together to fight back against the oppression of the overlords … Sound familiar!?
Within these opening few moments you cannot help but think of both Dune and of course Star Wars, and Rebel Moon unashamedly wears the influence of these two giants of Sci-Fi on its sleeve. We are then introduced to a village on a rural planet where the mysterious Kora (Sofia Boutella – Climax) is living a simple life within a farming community. The society has a Viking feel to it where offerings are made to gods in return for a good harvest and the civilisation seem very primitive.
We learn quickly (as is par the course for the pace of the Rebel Moon narrative) that Kora has only been on the planet for a short while, and is a former soldier of the Motherworld who was rescued by the farmers after her ship crash landed on the planet. Her character is stereotypically conflicted between the life she has left behind and her quiet and almost mundane current existence.
A ship from the Motherworld arrives at the rural planet Kora is inhabiting and the tone takes a sinister turn as the film makes it obvious this is not going to end well for the peaceful community, although it does manage to build the suspense quite nicely. The F/X as the visitors land is nicely shot and in case there was any doubt as to their intentions, the officers Nazi-esq costume design leaves little room for imagination.
Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein – Deadpool) is unsubtly portrayed as a pure and unadulterated fascist, while his soldiers are clad as James Cameron’s Aliens-esq marines. As village elder Sindri (Corey Stoll – The Strain) hosts the admiral he advises they are a simple community and have no interest in the politics of the Motherworld.
However Atticus demands that the village partners with the Motherworld to provide his soldiers with the crops from their harvest as they search the surrounding planets for rebel revolutionaries. Sindri declines the offer which Atticus takes great offence to, and he is beaten to death in front of his people who are told that they will now return in ten weeks to take their whole harvest.
A squadron of soldiers are left behind to monitor the farming and keep the locals in check, the nastier of which for some reason are all portrayed with South African accents. The film also focuses on another soldier Aris (Sky Yang – Halo) who is clearly not comfortable among his colleagues and steps in to fight them in order to save a farm-girl from being raped.
Kara then joins in and shows her fighting prowess in a trademark slow-motion action sequence from Snyder, as she takes out half a dozen soldiers before more villagers arrive and she warns them – “We’re going to have to fight!” Kara asks Gunnar (Michiel Huisman – Game of Thrones) to join her on a quest to seek out an army of outlawed warriors and the disgraced former general Titus (Djimon Hounsou – Blood Diamond) who she hopes they will be able to convince to join their cause.
The two travel together on their mission by horseback which evokes the feel of both a medieval and samurai inspiration, and it is clear that the world Snyder has created is a real melting pot of many different Sci-Fi and Fantasy influences.
They come to a village and enter a tavern full of intriguing alien creature designs in another very Star Wars / Star Trek heavy set piece. In fact the scene turns into a total rip-off of the cantina bar scene in A New Hope (1977) and provides another slo-mo fight sequence. A stranger – Kal (Charlie Hunnam – Pacific Rim) appears and helps Kora as she fights a number of the locals. He is a lone mercenary who then offers them himself and his ship for a price.
Kara is untrusting of his intentions but they take him up on his offer to help them. From here in a narrative drawing heavily from The Magnificant Seven (1960) they travel and encounter a host of different characters including Tarak (Staz Nair – Supergirl), who they free from slavery by way of placing a wager in a sequence lifted straight from Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace (1999).
As well as Nemesis (Bae Doona – Broker) a mystical and powerful warrior. Both characters are introduced with elaborate set pieces of action as the story jumps a little incoherently from one sequence to the other, while not allowing the time for either character to be given a proper back story.
General Titus himself is now a jaded gladiator who has spent the last few years fighting in an Ancient Rome like colosseum, although he is now a drunk and a shadow of his former self who tells Kara “I am beyond redemption.” However within two minutes of dialogue in what can only be described as seriously sloppy screen-writing, he is persuaded to join her cause and reclaim his former honour.
The gang then reach their final target, the army of outlaw freedom fighters led by Blood Axe (Ray Fisher – Justice League). This whole convoluted middle act does not necessarily lend itself well to the format it has been presented in, and one cannot wonder if the story would have been better suited in forming a big budget TV mini-series.
This way Snyder could have fleshed out each one of these characters in a 45-60 minute episode which might have allowed for significantly more back-story and context to their place in this world, while providing each character with an arc that viewers could have engaged a whole lot better with.
Eventually after the location of Kal’s ship is provided to Admiral Atticus the insurgents are attacked, and Rebel Moon throws itself into the spectacle of an action packed final act. Kara has been double crossed by Kal and her team are all taken captive … but they fight back!
Kara ultimately destroys Atticus in a well choreographed one on one fight sequence where he seemingly falls to his death (Emperor Palpatine – The Last Jedi !?) but it transpires he has survived a broken man. He is regenerated and we discover he is part machine and his revenge sets up Part 2 as his master demands the rebellion is crushed, and that Kara is brought to him to be executed.
It is apparent from the opening scene of Rebel Moon that there is very little originality to its story and delivery, which virtually takes all of its plot points from other movies. But it will no doubt appeal to fans of the genre nonetheless, where a suspension of disbelief is rewarded with a world that does leave you wanting more. The dialogue may be corny as hell in places and plot conveniences stick out like a sore thumb – but it’s all good popcorn fun at the end of the day, and the beginning of an elaborate Sci-Fi journey for a new generation. KZ
Words by Mark Bates
kult-zilla.com 
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