Rebel Moon Part 1 Review – Zack Snyder’s Spacey Justice League
If Taika Waititi gave us the ‘God-butcher’ in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, then director Zack Snyder gives us Planet Annihilators in his 2023 film “Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire”. It’s a dystopian inter-galactic sci-fi fantasy tale about a rebel fighter trying to band together a group of fierce warriors across planets to go up against an oppressive military empire called “The Mothership”, whose generals threaten her peaceful farming village. So, kind of like “Star Wars” mashed with “Dune” and “Guardians of the Galaxy”, minus the jokes.
Written by Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, and Shay Hatten, “Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire” begins with a voice-over explaining how The Mothership’s ruling royal family is slain in a coup led by the King’s top general Balisarius (Fra Fee), who, after taking over, works on crushing any murmurs of dissent against him. The opening scene features a gigantic military spaceship, but soon the story shifts its focus to the protagonist Kora (Sofia Boutella), a former warrior turned farmer, who now lives on a faraway moon, plowing fields with horses. Kora’s village resembles a farming cult trapped in a time bubble; all its inhabitants wear bleak-looking rags that belong anywhere between the 1800s to the 1940s. The juxtaposition is jarring and weird—they belong to a world of sentient robots and monstrous spaceships but live like peasants from medieval Europe. Although, in an anomaly, Kora’s living quarters are equipped with an automatic sensor sliding door, but inside, there are lanterns for lights. Clearly, the cult isn’t fully dedicated to their rejection of modern technology. Anyway…
The peace in Kora’s village is disrupted when Balisarius’ men, led by the evil Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein), arrive, demanding that they receive their entire harvest within three weeks. Their entry scene resembles one from a fictional World War II film, with the military men donning uniforms eerily similar to the Nazi livery. Ed Skrein’s portrayal of Atticus Noble reeks ruthlessness, creating an immediate sense of impending danger. Even during his seemingly benign interactions, like smiling and shaking hands with the village chief, I couldn’t shake the nervous anticipation that Atticus might suddenly bite off someone’s head. Unsurprisingly, Kora is convinced that the military will obliterate her community once their demands are met. So she embarks on a quest with her friend Gunnar (Michiel Huisman) to forge an alliance with rebel fighters who can help her stand against Atticus’ firepower.
Except for the lack of color (Snyder and team even make green look grey), “Rebel Moon” is an engaging space Odyssey as far as visual elements are concerned. But just like all of Snyder creations, it brims with slow-motion shots, dull colors, broody dramatic music and depressing dialogues. The color palette is dominated by sepia tones and black-grey swatches. The special-effects convincingly bring to life all the alien characters to life, including an much updated version of R2-D2 robots, that are rusty in appearance for no good reason.
For the initial twenty minutes, the film unravels as if it’s a continuation, a “Part II,” of an already established story. The characters engage in conversations with a knowing tone, creating a sense that the viewer might have missed out on a well-kept secret. This sense of being an “outsider” only diminishes after Kora finally reveals her origin story and Snyder should’ve led with it, or at least some parts of it and then led to a full disclosure of facts. The 2 hour 13 minute runtime didn’t seem to burdensome, in-fact, it’s the kind of ambitious script that might have worked better as a full-fledged series and some writers who aren’t afraid of adding some humor in the plot.
Sofia Boutella as Kora embodies the archetype of a fictional hero with a tragic past, projecting the image of a fierce warrior reminiscent of Alice from Resident Evil—capable of effortlessly navigating through hordes of flesh-eating zombies. Despite the impressive ensemble, the supporting cast members who join Kora’s fight against The Mothership fail to leave a lasting impression. Their characters are introduced through forgettable and clichéd scenes. For instance, Staz Nair’s character, a captive fighter, tames a Buckbeak-like beast (reminiscent of the Hippogriff from Harry Potter) in his introductory scene; meanwhile Bae Doona’s character finishes off a scary malevolent alien.
In essence, “Rebel Moon Part 1” seems to be either Zack Snyder’s homage to the science fiction and fantasy films he admires or an intricately chaotic fan-fiction brimming with Easter eggs. The film keeps flitting between being boring and gripping. If you are a loyal Snyder fan who watched the director’s cut of “Justice League” even after seeing its condensed version and enjoyed it, there is a high chance that you might appreciate this one too. Despite all its flaws, I would definitely watch a “Rebel Moon Part II”.
Rating: 6 on 10. You can stream it on Netflix.
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