Highlights

Ben Franklin reportedly said that good values and principles make up a continual Christmas. Thus there are mixed feelings about the new Netflix space fantasy “Rebel Moon: Part One — A Child of Fire,” as I can only heartily and ecstatically recommend it to Zack Snyder fans. When a strong enemy threatens a community, a group of unassuming heroes is assembled to assist the residents in defending themselves. Here, scale is the issue. It would have been OK if Snyder had created the opponent as a band of space pirates or a malevolent space motorcycle gang. Even a local police officer who uses excessive force to enforce rules on our world. A force spanning multiple solar systems that has taken over known space is about to unleash its full power on these peasants.

Rebel Moon Cast

Zack Snyder is the director of Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, sometimes known as just Rebel Moon, a 2023 American epic space opera film. Snyder co-authored the screenplay with Kurt Johnstad and Shay Hatten, which was based on a story he penned. The Rebel Moon characters are Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam, and Anthony Hopkins are among the ensemble cast members. The movie is set in a hypothetical galaxy dominated by the imperialist Motherworld, whose military, the Imperium, poses a danger to a farming colony on the moon of Veldt. It is a build-up blend of grandiose space fantasy and cowboy-style pre-Space colony. A former soldier for the Imperium, Kora sets out on a mission to gather fighters from all throughout the galaxy to rebel against the Imperium before they return to Veldt.

Summary of Part 1: A Child of Fire

The Rebel Moon release date was on December 15, 2023. Kora (Sofia Boutella), a stranger with an enigmatic past, crashes land on a moon in the farthest reaches of the universe and starts over amid a tranquil community of farmers. However, she quickly emerges as their only chance of survival when the brutal emissaries of the despotic Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee) and Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein) learn that the farmers had inadvertently sold their produce to the Bloodaxes (Cleopatra Coleman and Ray Fisher), who are the leaders of a ferocious group of rebels being pursued by the Motherworld.

Kora and Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), a kind-hearted farmer innocent of the harsh realities of war, are tasked with locating fighters willing to put their lives in danger to defend the people of Veldt. They travel to various worlds in pursuit of the Bloodaxes and, along the way, gather a small group of warriors who are all in need of atonement: Kai (Charlie Hunnam), a gun-for-hire and pilot; General Titus (Djimon Hounsou), a renowned commander; Nemesis (Doona Bae), a skilled swordswoman; Tarak (Staz Nair), a captive with a regal past; and Milius (E. Duffy), a resistance fighter.

Returning to Veldt, Anthony Hopkins’s character Jimmy—an aged mechanical guard concealed in the wings—awakens with a renewed mission. However, before the Motherworld’s soldiers arrive to destroy them all, the just-formed revolutionaries must learn to trust one another and fight as a unit.

Summary of part 2: The Scargiver

The Rebel Moon release date for the part two was April 12, 2024. The events of the previous movie are picked up just where in the sequel. After defeating Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein), Kora (Sofia Boutella), Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), General Titus (Djimon Hounsou), Nemesis (Doona Bae), Tarak (Staz Nair), and Milius (Elise Duffy) have returned to Veldt, or so they believe. Jimmy, the robot (voiced by Anthony Hopkins), has been exploring the moon and taking in all of its splendor while he struggles with his newfound identity following his defiance of programming and his murder of the Imperium policemen in Part One. 

The squad learns that Admiral Noble and his ship the King’s Gaze will return to Veldt in five days, putting the villagers and their grain back in the Imperium’s crosshairs despite Noble’s alleged demise, thanks to the Imperium turncoat Aris (Sky Yang).

Rebel Moon Reviews

The plot is the main issue with the film. It’s just not good. Not only is the primary plot nonsensical, and the antagonists are hilarious, but practically every encounter leaves the audience wondering “but, why?” or “how does it even make sense?”

The movie’s main event, the gathering of heroes, is likewise hurriedly handled, and in the majority of cases, the reasons why people choose to enlist are either completely ignored or nonexistent.

Regarding the villain who sets out to locate the mysteriously unsettling rebels, it seems that everyone is aware of the rebels’ identities and whereabouts, and they divulge this knowledge to the first random person they see. They’re not even hiding.

Action and battle scenes follow. Blasters that can pass through persons wearing armor cannot pass through a small piece of wood. The acting is passable, but it’s hard to determine if the performers perform well because the screenplay forces them to play an unrealistic character journey initially. Although Sofia did a good job portraying Kora, Kora is a weak character that doesn’t belong in the tale that revolves around her.

What’s the song General Titus sings?

A brief scene in which General Titus sings a song intended to give the village warrior’s strength by “venerating our gods, our ancestors, through remembrance and celebration of them” is one of the many poignant moments preceding the decisive battle for Veldt.

Lionel Loueke, a guitarist and singer, composed the song in a mix of Beninese and African languages. According to Hounsou, the lyrics portray “the act of conjuring strength at the feet of evil.” “It gives us faith in ourselves and hope so we can fight the powers of evil.” Indeed, he is singing there. You can listen to the whole Songs of the Rebellion album, which was inspired by Rebel Moon. It features Black Coffee’s song “Ode to Ancestors,” which features Hounsou.

Final Verdict about Zack’s Rebel Moon Movies

Netflix has demonstrated that even movies with unfavorable reviews can garner a sizable number of viewers when streamed. A Child of Fire takes viewers on a fast-paced team building experience by assembling an oddball group of fighters with different skill sets, but it’s essentially just a long montage with little to no character development outside their fighting prowess. Not much else is provided by the Scargiver.

Zack Snyder has consistently been charged with having a communication issue. It’s difficult to tread carefully when writing dialogue for a space epic. Character development relies significantly on dialogue, but Rebel Moon overemphasizes the cast’s role as vehicles for explaining Snyder’s science fiction world, depriving the characters of their inherent personalities.

The flashy, extravagant style of Zack Snyder’s films is well-known, using dramatic lighting, slow motion, excessive violence, and extensive CGI. Rebel Moon, which Geek Vibes Nation criticized for being “chaotic and overwrought to the point of burnout,” combines all the essential Zack Snyder components. Although this review appears to counter the notion that Rebel Moon is “boring,” most critiques center on the assumption that the action is chaotic and overstimulating, and the narrative is uninteresting.