Rebel Moon is Zack Snyder’s fist film in a new franchise for Netflix (Picture: Clay Enos/Netflix)
Having spent a large chunk of his career working for Warner Bros on tentpole DC movies, director Zack Snyder has finally made his longed-for version of Star Wars for Netflix – if only it were half as original.
It’s unfortunate for fan filmmakers that George Lucas’ Skywalker saga has defined the space opera franchise so fully for nearly 50 years, but Snyder’s overblown effort – which started life as a Star Wars pitch draft – really struggles to break out from under its long shadow.
The similarities are hard to ignore when it comes to the $150million (£117.5m) film’s (officially known as Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire) combination of spaceships, far flung planets, exotic space creatures and evil imperial overlords.
There’s even the same ‘chosen one’ vibe as Luke Skywalker with reluctant heroine Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger who becomes the best hope of survival for her adopted farming village home after it’s threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force known as the Motherworld. And we can assume, of course, eventually the saviour of all revolutionaries…
Rebel Moon is a passion project for Snyder that has been 30 years in the making – and it shows. Much as there may be commendable detail in his universe building, it also smacks of stitched-together set pieces and visuals that he’s had rattling around in his head all this time. It feels like shots that look cool are included purely for the sake of looking cool and obviously, knowing Snyder, in slow-mo – seeds scattering from a hand, blood splattering from a punch and so on.
There’s even a mechanised protector robot wearing antlers – as on the poster – who appears again at the end of the movie with his new accessory and… no real explanation? Having said, Sir Anthony Hopkins has lent his dulcet tones to this robot, Jimmy, in an example of inspired casting.
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Sofia Boutella stars as Kora, the film’s hero and reluctant saviour for her adopted home planet (Picture: Clay Enos/Netflix)
The film has a stuffed cast of supporting characters, played by the likes of Michiel Huisman, Charlie Hunnam and Ray Fisher (Picture: Clay Enos/Netflix)
Overall, the acting is pretty good, thanks to an able if sprawling cast that also includes Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Cleopatra Coleman, Justice League’s Ray Fisher and Doona Bae.
Boutella goes all in with her interpretation of Kora as a quietly tortured yet ripped action hero, and it’s refreshing to to see her presented as the capable saviour on a planet inhabited by farmers – while Huisman is her pining and naïve arm candy.
Also, Ed Skrein must be commended for eviscerating the scenery, never mind chewing it, as the psychotic and villainous Admiral Atticus Noble, who sometimes feels like the only thing powering the movie aside from ambitious action sequences.
Snyder delivers action and visuals aplenty, but there’s a lot that feels like Star Wars (Picture: Clay Enos/Netflix)
Rebel Moon does provide a beautifully OTT villain thanks to Ed Skrein (Picture: Justin Lubin/Netflix)
Rebel Moon was two conceived in two parts, with sequel The Scargiver already lined up for a 2024 release, and A Child of Fire absolutely suffers from part one syndrome, not least because there are many supporting characters who clearly have detailed backstories (like Bae’s Nemesis and Staz Nair as regal captive Tarak) but are yet to get their fair share of screen time. Only Hounsou’s General Titus seems to break free from the confusing pack, and that’s mainly due to his past connection to Kora.
Hunnam is also on hand as Rebel Moon’s Han Solo, roguish mercenary and pilot Kai, who has bags of charm – but also a distractingly bad Irish accent that only really makes sense later on, if we’re being generous.
Be warned, the movie also has an uncomfortably protracted scene threatening gang rape. Snyder has been criticised before for including sexual violence in many of his female characters’ pasts and presents, and, even if it’s meant to be from an educational standpoint, in the context of this glamorously gung-ho and brutal world he’s created, it doesn’t appear that that lesson is necessarily obvious.
Charlie Hunnam is Han Solo knock-off Kai (Picture: Clay Enos/Netflix)
Robot Jimmy (voiced by Anthony Hopkins) is likely to charm the audience, even if other parts of the film can’t (Picture: Netflix)
Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire is a true Snyder spectacle with its visual engagement. If you like his distinct style, you’ll be pleased, and the passion and detail for his cinematic universe is evident. However, a messy execution with some questionable moments and a lack in focus drags down its promise.
With The Scargiver already reportedly wrapped filming, and Rebel Moon 3 currently being written by Snyder, we’ll just have to hope that this disappointing first part is groundwork for bigger and better films in the franchise.
Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire hits select UK cinemas on Friday, December 15 before streaming exclusively on Netflix from December 22.
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