Released: 19th April 2024 (Netflix)
Length: 122 Minutes
Certificate: 12A
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Doona Bae, Staz Nair and Anthony Hopkins
In late 2023, Zack Snyder embarked on his own sci-fi odyssey with full support from Netflix. With an unoriginal setting, bland characters and stilted action, things didn’t get off to a good start. Now the second half, The Scargiver, has arrived. It barely stands above Child of Fire without making major improvements.
Taking place right after the original, Rebel Moon sees the band of warriors, led by Kora (Sofia Boutella) return to Veldt and gear up for a confrontation with the Motherworld and a resurrected Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein). Along the way, the characters gradually reveal their secrets and learn of greater events within the royal household. Many of these plot points will go by underused and underdeveloped as we mainly stick to a conflict that takes up just under an hour of the runtime. Snyder’s latest IP is still incredibly hollow, but for part 2 it does away with all the hackneyed world-building and character introductions. Instead, we focus on a single battle that never leaves the titular moon; on the one hand, this does drastically lower the scale of the sci-fi universe, stifling any intrigue. But on the other, the film is able to cut to the chase and deliver what the director does best. Everything else, especially the flashbacks to Kora’s time in the ranks of the Imperium feels so insignificant, held back for future films. There is one good scene here and that’s the presenting of gifts from the village to the freedom fighters. It’s brief and rather basic, but it does hint at the kind of connections that remain so rare in the director’s filmography.
You shouldn’t be expecting any more depth or engagement from the characters either. Aside from a half-hearted romance between Cora and Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), there is little to see here. We had so little time to build up these characters in the last film and here their finer details are treated as an afterthought. Easily the biggest misstep is one scene towards the halfway mark where the narrative comes to a halt and we delve into backstories through flashbacks. The film does this for the fallen general Titus (Djimon Hounsou) and then for Nemesis (Doona Bae). It’s a very jarring and unsatisfying way to learn about these people, showing that the writing has no interest in weaving these moments into the story. Their connections with the village are also rather basic with Nemesis briefly bonding with a young boy before the fighting starts. None of it is very engaging or interesting. Everyone hurls themselves into the action and that marks the end of their development. Characters like Jimmy (voiced again by Anthony Hopkins) Bloodaxe (Ray Fisher) and Tarak (Staz Nair) still go by underused and the villains remain incredibly weak. Little effort is paid to establishing Atticus’s feud with Kora and his return from the dead feels rather pointless as a result.
The one strength that has been maintained is the presentation. Despite only taking place on a single planet, the use of scale continues to impress with the Motherworld’s Battlecruiser looming large overhead alongside their attack transports. When the energy blasts and swords start to fly, everything is helmed to a high standard. You won’t care about the players involved, but you’ll still be able to understand where they stand in the invasion. Of course, the use of slow-motion is still present, but it doesn’t feel quite as intrusive as it did before. When placed into a larger action scene, things flow along better and don’t rely on clumsy swapping. The music is also fine for the most, working well enough to mark all the major moments of the struggle.
Rebel Moon Part 2 carries many of the same problems, albeit on a smaller and less muddled scale. The characters remain shallow, the use of flashbacks and exposition are pervading and the world itself has shrunk significantly from the first outing. Be that as it may, the film manages to stand above its predecessor with an extended battle that can be enjoyed by fans of sci-fi action.
Rating: 2/5 Stars (Disappointing)