 |
| Images courtesy of Netflix |
Back in 2012 while Lucasfilm and Disney were merging and
preparing a new trilogy of Star Wars films including but not limited to The
Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, writer-producer-director
Zack Snyder on the heels of his 2011 psychological comic-book fantasy epic Sucker
Punch began pitching to the aforementioned superpowers that be his own
version of a more adult oriented Star Wars chapter. The project dubbed Rebel Moon was to
be Snyder’s take on Star Wars, the films of Akira Kurosawa and punk sci-fi
magazine line (and film) Heavy Metal, not the most original cocktail in
the world but with Snyder also fixing to start work on the DC extended universe
with Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman for Warner Brothers,
the budding movie mogul pushed Rebel Moon to the backburner for awhile.
Circa 2023 after completing his Justice League saga
for Warner Brothers and then jumping aboard Netflix with his first feature film
to be photographed by himself Army of the Dead and waning interest in
the Star Wars films (also in a post Jupiter Ascending world mind
you), Snyder found renewed interest in the decade old gestating Rebel Moon and
with the help of screenwriters Kurt Johnstad and Shay Hatten the director
embarked on what would be his second feature film acting as a cinematographer
and the first time Snyder fans got a real look at what a Zack Snyder Star
Wars film might look and sound like.
Bringing on an ensemble cast led by Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam,
Djimon Hounsou, Doona Bae, Cary Elwes, Jena Malone and the voice of Anthony
Hopkins as a C-3PO character, the $166 million PG-13 Netflix production is
being rolled out in limited theatrical release prior to streaming tomorrow on
the platform. Sometime next year
preempting the impending sequel film Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver
in April, a longer R rated cut will also appear on Netflix.
With all that said, the film is another tale told a long
time ago in a galaxy far, far away involving the Motherworld which rules with
military forces known as the Imperium (stock Nazi villains) with an iron grip
over the farming colony moon Veldt when a mysterious young woman named Kora
(Sofia Boutella) launches a full-scale rebellion against the Imperium. Unbeknownst to her fellow farmers, Kora
harbors a dark past where she was indoctrinated and trained in the ways of the
Imperium who transformed her into a cunning merciless warrior and has spent
years trying to distance herself from the empire. From here on, Kora in the time honored
tradition of Star Wars movies embarks on a quest to build a ragtag team
of rebel fighters with the intention of taking on the Imperium, replete with a
mercenary pilot named Kai (Charlie Hunnam doing Han Solo), a nobleman
blacksmith named Tarak (Staz Nair), Gunnar (Michiel Huisman kinda/sorta doing
Luke Skywalker) and cyborg swordmaster Nemesis (Doona Bae still in Wachowskis
mode).
While the film is being split into two parts with an even
longer “better” version coming later (inexplicable given the creative freedom
granted by Netflix unless it’s just a very Snyder thing to do), Rebel Moon at
its core cannot get out of the Lucasfilm shadow or utilize the preexisting
tools in a new way. Though significantly
better shot and looking by Snyder who learned a thing or two after the digital
mess of Army of the Dead, presented in 2.39:1 widescreen and in some venues
Ultra Panavision 70mm film and scored by Snyder’s time-honored composer Tom
Holkenborg aka Junkie XL, the overarching sense of déjà vu and lack of original
villainy (Nazis again) and Star Wars bullet points really work against
whatever new ground Snyder was hoping to strike. Very well polished but we’ve been down this
road a thousand times over.
Sofia Boutella is one of the more striking physical
actresses in recent memory, from her mixed but valiant effort in The Mummy to
her astounding physical feats in Gaspar Noe’s dance horror epic Climax
and here she more than rises to the occasion and makes one wonder whether or
not she would’ve made a more interesting Rey than Daisy Ridley. The ensemble cast does their best despite
being buried in makeup though seeing Jena Malone as a giant spider woman was
worth the ticket price. Fans of Infinity
Pool will spot Cleopatra Coleman as Devra Bloodaxe and more recently the antagonist
of Godland Ingvar Sigurdsson makes a nice turn as Kora’s lifelong best
friend. Charlie Hunnam is more or less
doing Han Solo again and with his long-disheveled hair and beard who, low and
behold, is introduced in a kind of Cantina shootout involving dumb criminals biting
off more than they can chew.
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is an excellently made, shot and blocked screen spectacle that’s
plainly derivative with Snyder’s usual fixations on slow motion of wide shots
of characters in midair launching an attack and desaturated colors. Pure escapist fun with a darker edge to it,
the film is currently on blast by the critics for being a Star Wars film
with elements of the spaghetti western that for its gargantuan production
budget doesn’t manage to do that much to set itself apart from the pack. Snyder fans will rejoice in his bleakly
beautiful visuals and Junkie XL score but those of us familiar with the sources
of inspiration won’t be able to see past them while watching this. For a director who was previously on top of
the DCEU filmmaking verse, Rebel Moon on Snyder terms is a little
underwhelming. But at least it didn’t go
full Jupiter Ascending.
--Andrew Kotwicki
