Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, 2023.
Directed by Zack Snyder
Starring Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Anthony Hopkins, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Stuart Martin, Cary Elwes, Corey Stoll, Michiel Huisman, Alfonso Herrera, Ed Skrein, Cleopatra Coleman, Fra Fee, Rhian Rees, Jena Malone, E. Duffy, Charlotte Maggi, Sky Yang, and Staz Nair.
SYNOPSIS:
When a peaceful settlement on the edge of a distant moon finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, a mysterious stranger living among its villagers becomes their best hope for survival.
Zack Snyder loves world building, and so Netflix has afforded him the opportunity to play in their subscription dollar sandbox following the end of the [whisper it quietly] DC Snyderverse. Having launched one already in the form of the enjoyably garish Army of the Dead, this time the director shoots for the moon with an ambitious slice of space opera.
Derivative discourse blah blah blah. Star Wars was tapping into Edgar Rice Burroughs, and then when John Carter came out it was criticised for being too similar to Star Wars. If a film is good, and is at least trying to forge its own mythology, then who cares how much it riffs on a predecessor? If a film is good.
Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon is good……until it isn’t. The problem is that the positive stuff is all contained in the opening half-hour, before the first instance of tasteless violence occurs, and sets the film on a path of impressively executed, but thoroughly uninvolving videogame cut scene sequences.
This is a film for Valerian apologists. A film in which there are moments of big-screen beauty, something Snyder has mastered throughout his career, but one so uneven and scattered across how ever many corners of this universe he has created, that you don’t care about anything beyond the superficiality of it all. At least Valerian had a sense of humour. Aside from a few Charlie Hunnam witticisms, this is strictly po-faced stuff.
It all begins with so much promise; sun-kissed vistas, lens flare, and a young protagonist working on a farm for their adoptive family (derivative discourse blah blah blah). It’s the stuff of the Shire or Tatooine, and hints at a hero’s arc to rival the best sci-fi or fantasy fables. Archetypes are introduced, rivalries forged, and even the threat of a love-triangle can’t prevent you from being intrigued by Sofia Boutella’s mysterious Kora. It’s soapy, and the dialogue is a little clunky, but it has a charm, and is playing out against a stunning backdrop which suggests a rich world for our adventurers to explore.
Kora’s world and the film are shaken up by the arrival of Ed Skrein’s big bad, Admiral Atticus Nobel, who’s a little bit Tom Hardy in Legend crossed with a late 90s Guy Ritchie character. Despite the broad brushstrokes of villainy that he brings to the role, his performance still manages to carry some genuine menace, and along with Boutella is the only character who doesn’t feel completely like a computer game avatar.
In fact, Boutella is the reason for sticking with the film, and potentially the franchise as a whole. She’s requisitely kick-ass when it comes to the action sequences, and has a presence which makes you wish they’d scratch beneath the surface of Kora a little more than exposition heavy flashbacks that fill in some of the many blanks.
Development for each of the characters is reserved for a protracted showy mid-section meet-the-gang sequence, which plays out less like a movie, and more like a series of impressive anime shorts. Bae Doona’s Nemesis gets a cool AF Darth Maul style showdown with a giant spider-woman, at which point it’s worth noting the creature design in Rebel Moon is incredible, and then she disappears into the background. Staz Nair’s warrior Tarak is put through a heroic trial which sees him riding a giant crow, and then he disappears into the background. And spare a thought for Djimon Hounsou’s General Titus, whose performance, bar a final reel monologue, must be somewhere on the cutting room floor, because he is permanently consigned that background.
Excuses will be made considering A Child of Fire is the first installment of a two, or even three part franchise, but you have to establish some connection to the story or the people populating it to ensure viewers will want to come back, and unfortunately Rebel Moon doesn’t come close to achieving that.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★
Matt Rodgers – Follow me on Twitter
Originally published December 16, 2023. Updated December 20, 2023.
