Zach Snyder is consistently a polarizing director, often one that gets praised almost always "after the fact" once there's a director's cut or R-rated cut or "Snyder Cut" out there. That's not always the case - Army of the Dead, Man of Steel, and obviously 300 (still his best film by a mile IMO) were all good, or better, upon the initial version. Watchmen has always been strong, previously misunderstood, while some of his recent "big" films like Batman v Superman and Justice League (which wasn't all his fault) have better versions out there.
Now, allegedly, there's an R-rated version of Rebel Moon that will come at...some point?
The takeaway here is that while I generally enjoy Snyder's films, for better or worse, it gets slightly frustrating having to always wait for a better version of what should have come the first time around. And for Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire I can't say an R-rating will save it, but it would definitely help it.
I'd been hearing all the poor reviews in the last week and was bummed because this was probably my most anticipated film throughout the remainder of the year after Killers of the Flower Moon. Promising to be a unique, R-rated, sci-fi world with Zach Snyder's unique visuals and action was beyond enticing. The "Part I" and "Part II" made it feel grandiose and epic. Even against poor reviews I wanted this review to be along the lines of "critics suck!". And about an hour into the film, I was still pretty high on it. There's no particular element that was impressively strong, but I was along for the ride with Kora and Gunnar as they left their planet in search of others that would fight with them against the evil empire threatening their existence.
But there comes a point in Rebel Moon, as it introduces seemingly its 20th character and they go to their 5th planet, and tells us we should already be invested and connected with all of them that I...just lost interest. It goes from feeling on the cusp of being special to slowly declining into mediocrity. It's not outright bad like some have been saying (I have a higher threshold for "bad"...it has to make me angry, for starters), but it doesn't feel any different than half of the other sci-fi world adventures out there. If I had to pick a single unique element, I'm not sure I could and while, yes, all stories are forms of one another, there has to be some sort of selling angle or higher degree of storytelling. Rebel Moon becomes repetitive in its middle section as they go from planet to planet, completing side quests, giving rousing speeches, and recruiting a key character in the fight. When we arrive at a finale that feels like it should mean more, I was fully understanding what the reviews were saying. One thing Zach Snyder films are often NOT is forgettable, but - at least Part One - Rebel Moon feels quite forgettable.
That R-rating would have helped too. The action, specifically the editing, feels truncated to take out the "R" bits. A key character's death near the end cuts right as the death is happening - and it's not the only example - where it is awkwardly noticeable and honestly just gets annoying. Parts of the action can be impressive, and there's of course some use of slow-motion and super-slow-motion that's satisfying but hey - I still don't think Snyder has ever gotten an action sequence even within the realm of what he did in 300, specifically Leonidas' rampage. But I digress...Rebel Moon's action has moments that are inspired and others that feel generic, all of it unfortunately begging to have the extra seconds of R-rated carnage.
And what about all the other elements of the film? Same story: nothing felt outright bad or offensive to me, but nothing is special. The script is probably the worst bit and feels the most generic, while special effects are perhaps the "best", but aren't great in the finale. Our cast is...fine. I like most of these actors and actresses, but everyone is introduced so fast that no one really gets to do anything. Djimon Hounsou is the perfect example of this...I'm not sure he has more than 10 lines in the whole thing, feeling like he should be far bigger.
I'm very bummed about Rebel Moon because - even against Snyder's overall track record - I was looking forward to this a lot. Part of me wonders if it would have been better served by being a TV series, but there's also nothing special enough to warrant an extra 10 hours of content. And more than anything, this sci-fi "epic" should be glad that Dune Part 2 got delayed because it would live massively in that shadow (I'd bet money on that). Instead, I presume Rebel Moon Part Two will release in early 2024 with much less fanfare, and the total epic won't last long in our memories.
Rath's Review Score | 5.5/10
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