Movie review: ‘Rebel Moon: Part Two –– The Scargiver’

On Netflix on Friday, April 19, ‘Rebel Moon: Part Two –– The Scargiver’ sees director Zack Snyder delivering the second chapter of his expansive, joyous space war adventure, this time with a narrower focus and a slightly more coherent story .

However, like the first part, it doesn’t work, falling into the feel of a cheap ‘Star Wars’ movie that disappoints on many levels.

Does ‘Rebel Moon: Part Two –– The Scargiver’ fly?

If you watched the first part of ‘Rebel Moon’ and were blown away by its bold, sweeping scale and intense sci-fi action… then good for you. But we wonder if we saw a different movie.

For those who found the outing to be an unoriginal work full of clichés and tropes and wondered if a follow-up could do the impossible and actually come out worse, then… Zack Snyder is here to confirm that suspicion.

Because ‘The Scargiver’ somehow manages to be full of battles and stakes and yet completely devoid of any authentic emotion or reaction. It’s true that some of the heroes here don’t make it out alive, but honestly, you won’t care. And the rest? Pure noise and screwed nonsense.

Script and direction

The script for ‘The Scargiver’ continues simply and obviously what ‘A Child of Fire’ began: Sofia Boutella’s Kora has returned to the pastoral moon of Veldt with the warriors she believes could defend the place. But, disconcertingly (due to poorly explained Motherworld policy), she seems to believe that everything will be okay since she managed to kill Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein). Poor me! Not only is Noble not dead thanks to some slightly Darth Vader-like medical treatment, but he’s also seething with vengeance towards Kora and is only too happy to take it out on Veldt.

Yet the new film somehow manages to squander even the vaguest spark of an idea, any potential value buried in a mire of off-kilter motivational speeches that would make someone giving advice in a Holiday Inn conference room cringe. . Even experienced artists like Anthony Hopkins can’t make this work.

The pacing is also very off, the first third of the film is stilted and awkward, pausing as various characters fill in on Veldt’s people (and, by extension, whoever is watching who isn’t already asleep at the time). ) with their backstories. . There’s no surprise to be found here, except perhaps from Staz Nair’s Tarak, who it turns out is usually shirtless these days, but used to be a buttoned-up prince whose people used giant warbirds in the hope they could fight ships space. They didn’t do well! However, even that seemingly impressive sequence feels like Snyder borrowing, in this case from himself, as it has echoes of the opening scenes of ‘Man of Steel.’

Snyder also indulges on the visual front: for every stunning location shot or gorgeous sequence of a ship against a giant ringed moon, there are a hundred generic laser-shooting moments and such an overload of slow motion that you could watch the movie on Fast forward and large parts of it will appear to play at normal speed. For a director to have a patterned style is one thing. A filmmaker who lazily goes to the well so many times that he quickly dries up is quite another.

Performances

‘The returning cast of Rebel Moon fails to turn the material into gold any more than the original. In many ways, they are even more trapped between the indulgences of their director.

As we mentioned earlier, the opening part of the film splits its time between Ed Skrein’s Darth V… Sorry, Admiral Noble is angry (Skrein at least still seems to have fun swallowing the scenery) and the warrior characters spinning their wheels talking of their backgrounds, or long, boring farming sequences that make everything look like a Budweiser commercial.

Sofia Boutella does most of the character work, her own backstory is an unsurprising tale of betrayal, but even she’s trapped in a character who seems to have two modes: violent fighter or depressed love interest.

The likes of Bae Doona, Djimon Hounsou, and E. Duffy also remain completely wasted in their supporting roles, whose character development is relegated to fighting or worrying.

Everyone else is an archetype in search of a character, less active participants than human props.

Final thoughts

A completely disappointing follow-up to the first ‘Rebel Moon’ that we didn’t think was possible, and easily finds itself in limbo below the low bar set by that film. A waste of time, money and actors, it boils down to embarrassingly embarrassing moments, like a quartet still playing dramatic music in the same room while a king is portrayed, or long sequences of war machines shooting people.

This wants to aspire to the quality and majesty of films like the recent ‘Dune: Part Two’ but ends up getting it right in ‘Dumb: Part Two’. Snyder has already spoken and is leaving us hints of more stories to come, but that’s not something we can anticipate after this.

‘Rebel Moon: Part Two –– The Scargiver’ receives 5.5 out of 10 stars.

What is the plot of ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’?

Kora (Sofia Boutella) and the surviving warriors prepare to fight and defend their new homeworld, Veldt, against the Homeworld.

Who is in the cast of ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’?

• Sofia Boutella as Kora/Arthelais
• Djimon Hounsou as Tito
• Ed Skrein as Atticus Noble
• Michiel Huisman as Gunnar
• Doona Bae as Nemesis
• Staz Nair as Tarak
• Fra Fee as Regent Balisarius
• Elise Duffy as Millius
• Anthony Hopkins as the voice of Jimmy

(From left to right) Sofia Boutella as Kora, Michiel Huisman as Gunnar and Ed Skrein as Atticus Noble in ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’. Photo: Netflix © 2024.

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