Zack Snyder endured the worst reviews of his career to date for the first Rebel Moon movie, but Child of Fire still topped the list of most-watched Netflix movies over Christmas. There was no stopping him from reaching the top.
It remains to be seen whether those viewers will be suitably impressed by what they see and come back for more. However, there’s a good chance that Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver will be similarly critically received.
Given that the movies were shot in quick succession, it’s not like any changes would be made in response to that reaction (Snyder wouldn’t have done so anyway). What that means is that Rebel Moon 2 suffers from the same flaws, even if its simplified plot shows some improvement.
Scargiver unwittingly disrespects its predecessor by requiring only a brief opening narration to understand the events of Child of Fire. The omnibus movie is over, and it’s finally time for the war.
Korra (Sofia Boutella) and the rebels are in the Veldt, where the villagers are preparing to defend their homeland from Mother World. Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein) is on his way, angry that he was almost killed by his girlfriend Cora, and takes her to her adoptive father, Regent Valisarius (Fra Fee), as compensation for her desertion. I decided to take him back.
And that’s really it. The Scargiver has flashback sequences that flesh out the backstories of the various Rebels, including four consecutive (real) flashbacks during his one group therapy session before the big battle. But plot-wise there’s nothing else. The first half is training and the second half is extra time.
This isn’t surprising since Rebel Moon was always one movie split into two. Before the screening we attended, Snyder talked about whether he would cut the original script down to one movie or cut it halfway through. Having seen both movies, the former might be a stronger choice.
The bones are there because Rebel Moon was better. As with the first film, its world-building is extensive, and Snyder fans will appreciate more visually impressive battles, shot in slow motion, of course. (Whether the slow-motion grain harvesting sequence is necessary is even more questionable.)
Director Snyder also assembled an attractive cast for the Rebel Moon movie, with Sofia Boutella getting more emotional in the sequel and Ed Skrein able to take on his annoying villains with gusto. You’ll want to see more of the other rebels, especially Bae Doona’s Nemesis, which speaks to collective strength.
The problem is, it’s all a little boring. There’s not enough plot to justify the two-part approach, which means Scargiver is gentler than the episodic overstuffed first film, but it’s not dramatically interesting. Not.
As you would expect from a war movie setting, there are heroic sacrifices and last-minute reprieves during extended battles. These generate frenzied excitement, but are mostly greeted with indifference because they’ve never been seen before, right down to the Star Wars homage (you better believe someone loses an arm) .
Perhaps Snyder’s vision will finally come to fruition when extended versions of both films, said to be six hours in total, are released this summer. Both films certainly feel stripped back – whether it’s the character development or just the action, once again it’s sanitized and bloodless.
But it’s hard to imagine anyone other than die-hard Snyder fans wanting to revisit this world. As with the first film, it seems like Netflix is allowing him to do whatever he wants, leaving us wishing Snyder had chosen to move forward with his “complete” vision soon.
Rebel Moon – Part 2: Scargiver ends with a cliffhanger reveal that suddenly appears out of nowhere, so it will ultimately feel threatening to most viewers. There’s no denying that Snyder has created an interesting world. He just forgot to tell his interesting story in it.
Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver is available to watch on Netflix now.
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