Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, 2023.
Directed by Zack Snyder.
Starring Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Charlie Hunnam, Michiel Huisman, Staz Nair, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Cleopatra Coleman, E. Duffy, Anthony Hopkins, Jena Malone, Ed Skrein, Fra Fee, Stuart Martin, Corey Stoll, Cary Elwes, Alfonso Herrera, Rhian Rees, Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Ray Porter, Charlotte Maggi, Sky Yang, Samantha Win, Josefine Lindegaard, Claire Liz Phillips, Stella Grace Fitzgerald, Quinn Zheng, Dustin Ceithamer, Dominic Burgess, Meredith VanCuyk, Sisse Marie, Savanna Gann, Danielle Burgio, Kingston Foster, and Christopher Matthew Cook.
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.
The one positive Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire (Part Two will be on Netflix next April) going for it is that, even if the sci-fi journey plays like director Zack Snyder (also co-writing alongside Shay Hatten and Kurt Johnstad) pulling from a grab bag of clichés and tropes every five minutes, he is a visionary filmmaker with a general idea of how to weave in aesthetic elements of his entire filmography to provide a slight distinct flair to the familiarity. At times, the imagery feels like Star Wars colliding with Greek mythology, all with the expected unnecessary, nonstop slow motion during action sequences (that typically don’t add much aside from a rare moment where it allows for the filmmaker to home in on some facial emotions, presumably by accident.)
The real frustration comes from not just how derivative the narrative is but the uninteresting, simultaneously boring but rushed execution that feels like watching someone play a series of video game mini-side quests rather than a full-on story of building a rebellion team where each member comes across as a fully fleshed out character with motives to understand and emotion to get involved in. Each recruitment sequence is shorter and sloppier than the last, and somehow more random, as if Zack Snyder is trying to shove any sci-fi staple he can think of into the movie (aliens, robots, humanoid spiders, lightsabers, spaceship battles, bounty hunters) without any consideration as to why it should be there or if it’s serving an entertaining or stimulating purpose. One minute, you’re watching a character bond with mystical animals (which feels blatantly plagiarized from Avatar), and then a South Korean swordswoman is taking down a child-murdering spider creature.
As for the main plot, it is centered on Kora (Sofia Boutella), a former high-ranking member of Motherworld’s military regime, the Imperium, having escaped that life to hide out amongst a small band of villagers selling their harvest, sometimes to rebels. Kora has a tragic past, at one point working for the sadistic general that murdered her family and entire homeland, rising her way up the ranks to working closely with the King and his young daughter (a much kinder person with the potential to bring some peace back to this galaxy.) One day, a dreadnought appears, led by Admiral Atticus Noble (a shouting, ruthless villain played by Ed Skrein), demanding the harvest for the Motherworld. He tries to cut a one-sided deal where Kora, hiding her true identity with a completely new appearance, is aware that these people don’t stick to their word and will take whatever they want with force.
Initially, Kora plots to run away and start anew, knowing full well that this land is about to be overtaken. This also wouldn’t be a Zack Snyder movie without some form of attempted sexual trauma, so Kora decides to stay and fight for the villagers once a group of soldiers (distractingly looking like they are wearing cheap knockoff Halo Spartan armor) threaten to rape a woman, which prompts the first fight sequence brimming with slow-motion and ground- sliding while firing guns. She then sets out on a journey slapped with uninteresting locations and set pieces to assemble the perfect team to defend the land. If anything, the periodic flashbacks to Kora’s time serving the Motherworld make for a more dramatic, thorny story that, unfortunately, isn’t explored much here.
This is Part One, so that’s also pretty much all the film amounts to in terms of storytelling. There is some late-game betrayal, one or two revelations that don’t generate much interest in the sequel, and an inconsequential final action sequence. There are small bits of inspired character design and flourishes of excitement, but otherwise, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is a tedious stroll through anything and everything you have seen before done better in another sci-fi movie, with no emotional hook or any reason to care about what’s happening on screen. It is bursting with everything and nothing at the same time.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
