Ryan Shoots First: Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire

Ok, I am going to spend the first bit of this review not really talking about Rebel Moon, because Zack Snyder has a funny way of making his films about everything else besides the film. Sure enough days before the movie had even debuted on Netflix, articles started circling about how the “Directors Cut” was really Zack’s true vision. C’mon man, it’s Netflix they notoriously let creators cook, there is no WB mucking up the works there is no reason to not make the movie you envisioned and even more reason not to undercut the film before it even debuted. So of course the Snyder brigade online rushed to his defense and critics that don’t like his style rushed to their early reviews leading to a Critic score on Rotten Tomatoes of 17 and an audience score near 80. Meaning a ton of people are coming into the film already with preconceived ideas framing it. Then there is the whole Star Wars thing. A little background, Zack Snyder pitched a Star Wars movie to Disney and they pretty much said “no thanks”. So he went and made it at Netflix. So this also gave some the idea it was a “We have Star Wars at home” type situation. Now with all of that baggage… is the damn movie any good? 

To answer that question, Rebel Moon is pretty cool. It has a nice aesthetic, a simple fantasy tale and some dynamic rogues to root for. Sure it isn’t the most complex deep narrative but that’s ok. We need more simple heroes journey fantasies and even more in Space Fantasy. And that is where the film shines, Sci-Fi Fantasy is having something of a renaissance. For years no one would touch it cause Star Wars had the market cornered and other attempts just kinda flamed out so a more Medieval Classic Fantasy took over. But with Dune a few years ago and some others Sci-Fi fantasy is back and I love it. More please. Less bogged down with the obsession of hard core sci-fi and how everything works and they how. Take classic fantasy, take the magic and the monsters and just add lazers and space ships. Perfect recipe. Rebel Moon nails this with unique ships and designs, classic worlds that don’t look much different than what you would fine in a classic Tolkein story until a android with a regal pattern in his gear work comes walking by. I know the easy comparison is to go Star Wars but to me the whole movie feels more Warhammer 40k meets Dune, with the CGI and sets all shining. They even have this kinda cheesy feel to it but not through a lack of budget almost a deliberate choice to make it all feel more fantasy. I dig it. 

Lets move on to the cast and this has quite a robust cast, name after name and every scene another “oh hey that guy!”. But at the core is the cast of Rebels lead by Sofia Boutella who plays Kora, she has a unique start to her heroes journey one you may think you know in the beginning but with a twist. She’s joined by names like Djimon Hounsou, Charlie Hunnam, Bae Doona, and Ray Fisher. They battle a relentless straight evil asshole of a villain in Ed Skrein which, fun fact was in Game of Thrones till he was replaced by another co-star in Rebel Moon Michael Huisman. It’s all very Seven Samurai which is of course a huge influence on Star Wars so it all comes full circle. The cast all have some chemistry and while they may not be the liveliest of performances, no one is getting any Oscar noms, it serves it purpose and I care about what happens to them. They all get a time to shine and show why they are the team for the job against a villainous gang of literal Space Nazis that you really want to just see burn. 

Rebel Moon will be divisive but less for the actual movie itself or its quality and more everything around it but it presents a interesting beautiful world, a compelling rag tag cast of characters, a evil villain and worth while story with some twists and turns. I’m bought in and while I may not rally with the Snyder verse fanboys I will be eagerly anticipating Part 2.