-Written by John Cajio.
Rebel Moon - Part 2: The Scargiver is a film that sucks. And not in any good way. For the record, I loved how terrible Rebel Moon - Part 1: A Child of Fire was. It was schlocky, derivative, easily predictable, and infinitely mockable. Rebel Moon - Part 2: The Scargiver tries to take itself entirely too seriously, but the writing and (to a degree) the performances lack the necessary gravitas for it to be taken seriously with any real sense of legitimacy.
Rebel Moon - Part 2: The Scargiver picks up immediately after the events of Rebel Moon - Part 1: A Child of Fire. Kora (Sofia Boutella) and her crew return to the moon world of Veldt to celebrate their hard fought victory over General Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein), whom Kora believes to be dead. Instead, Noble’s body was recovered and revived, and now he is out for vengeance. Upon learning that Noble is alive and that he is bringing the full weight of his imperial dreadnought, The King’s Gaze, against the small village occupying Veldt, disgraced General-turned-rebel Titus (Djimon Hounsou) rallies the villagers to set defenses and prepare for battle. Then a very long battle plays out in and around the nameless village for the bulk of the rest of the film’s 123-minute run time.
The film is oftentimes a visual feast, as one has come to expect from Director Zack Snyder. The performances are generally earnest, if they aren’t great. Skrein, in particular, stands out as he effortlessly chews the scenery with all of the menace and intensity he can muster. That’s probably all the good that can be said about Rebel Moon - Part 2: The Scargiver.
On the other hand, there are plenty of things to complain about. As a fan of her work in Kingsman: The Secret Service, Star Trek Beyond, and Atomic Blonde, Boutella continues to demonstrate that she might be better off in a supporting role instead of the leading role she has here. But flat, uneven, and/or uninteresting performances are not limited to her. Even Hounsou’s “rousing” speech to the villagers at the top of the film lacks any of the intense conviction one comes to expect from the award-winning actor and falls completely flat.
There are a number of questionable filmmaking choices. Was it necessary to devote a solid fifteen minutes of the film's 123-minute runtime to a montage of the villagers harvesting crops at varying degrees of slo-mo? No, but it looked awesome. Were the two scenes that followed it necessary? Nope, but they looked kind of awesome. Why does Jimmy the robot (voiced by Anthony Hopkins) now sport a cape and a crown of antlers? Does it matter? Jimmy now looks awesome. Was it necessary for a deus ex machina to win the day after the villagers had pretty effectively secured victory? Nope–not at all–but it sure as hell looked awesome.
Recently, presumably in promotion for Rebel Moon - Part 2: The Scargiver, Snyder sat down with Wired magazine for one of their YouTube segments where they bring in an expert on a particular topic and have them answer questions from “the internet” (the internet entirely being Twitter). It’s a segment I frequently enjoy. Snyder’s segment genuinely did not disappoint. Literally, the first question was “Why did Rebel Moon’s action scenes have so much slomo?” Zack’s response: “The obvious answer is slow motion is awesome….” I think that sums up everything here.
Directed by Zack Snyder.
Written by Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, & Shay Hatten.
Starring Sofia Boutella, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Djimon Hounsou, Bae Doo-na, Ray Fisher, Staz Nair, Fra Fee, Elise Duffy, Charlotte Maggi, Stuart Martin, Cary Elwes, Anthony Hopkins, etc.
1.5/10 = AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS
