Last month saw the release of Dune: Part Two, the continuation of Denis Villeneuve’s ongoing film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s spic sci-fi book series. While we had to wait a bit longer when its release got pushed back due to certain Hollywood strikes, the anticipation was worth it. The sequel was bigger and better than its predecessor, as well as deconstructing the idea of the hero’s story that you would often see, such as in Star Wars. As for Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon which owes a debt to George Lucas’ creation, both Part One and Part Two that you can now watch on Netflix, doesn’t come close to the cinematic spectacle of Villeneuve’s Arrakis.
Picking up where its predecessor left off, which was the two-hour plus recruitment video, Rebel Moon: Part Two: The Scargiver sees former Imperium soldier Kora (Sofia Boutella) and the surviving warriors prepare to fight and defend their new homeworld Veldt against the Motherworld led by the resurrected Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein). During the opening minutes Jimmy the robot (voiced once again by Anthony Hopkins) narrates to give you a recap of what came before – including the funny names of characters and what they are from – none of which you will remember after they are said.
Given the wacky names of characters, alien races and planets that Star Wars has unleashed for over four decades, most of them have made enough of an impact to be memorable. In the case of Rebel Moon, where Kora and the rest of the warriors take refuge with the villagers, who will be trained to fight for their homeland, this is the perfect opportunity of some much-needed characterization. Considering that Snyder and his co-writers Kurt Johnstad and Shay Hatten have acknowledged the major influence of Seven Samurai, which had nuance in exploring the somewhat tense interactions between the warriors and the farmers, Rebel Moon never gives time to really develop the relationship between its cast.
While there is an attempt of a more character-focused piece by presenting backstories for the remaining warriors Titus (Djimon Hounsou), Tarak (Staz Nair) and Nemesis (Doona Bae), all their flashbacks essentially do the same thing: they are victims of the Motherworld. We may get more backstory for Kora, revealing how she really became a fugitive, but the film’s shallow world-building is there to set up a possible third installment. At least Cary Elwes pops up for one scene as a king with a bizarre English accent; just what is Rebel Moon’s deal with accents?
Although there are times when Snyder forgets to have fun, no matter how fantastical his films are, there is the rare occasion where he is oddly sincere. Like the countryside in Man of Steel, the first half of this film has this cheesy innocence in showing these characters farming together. This may not be a good excuse for the lack of character development, and many of these scenes allow Snyder (serving as his own cinematographer) to shoot them like commercials for the American Midwest, but they show a side to Snyder’s direction that is not just bleak.
However, halfway through, the action kicks in. No doubt that Snyder can craft action sequences, even if many of them feature gratuitous slow-motion. But when a good hour of the film comprises of gun blasting and Doona Bae swinging her dual laser swords, you start to feel numb. Characters may have their moment to shine in the battlefield, some of which do die, and yet the whole thing feels unearned, no matter how much potential Sofia Boutella has to be a movie star. As the editing has to hide the R-rated content that we are expecting when the extended cuts for both parts drop on Netflix later this year, it is still questionable why Snyder and the streaming service gave us these trimmed-down versions in the first place.
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