Rebel Moon Part One - A Child of Fire Movie Review: Zack Snyder's Ambitious Space Saga is Riddled With Cliches And Unoriginal Ideas (LatestLY Exclusive)

Rebel Moon Movie Review: So, Zack Snyder is back with his new ambitious film, that once again on focused on style while substance takes a cosmic ride this time around. No matter which corner of the universe Snyder sets his film in, there are still his trademark stylised slow-mo shots during action sequences, lens flares, and a lack of a good plot. Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire is what we get when Zack Snyder watches Star Wars and decides he wants to make his own version, but then he also watches Seven Samurai, Guardians of the Galaxy, Inglorious Basterds, Harry Potter, etc, and adds more stuff to the screenplay. Rebel Moon Part One - A Child of Fire Review: Zack Snyder’s Netflix Sci-fi Epic Fails to Launch, Receives Mixed Reactions From Critics.

Kora (Sofia Boutella) is the main protagonist of Rebel Moon, and when we first meet her, she is working in the farmlands of Veldt, where its inhabitants lead peaceful lives. She is someone on the run, and the reason for that is about to arrive on the planet. The galaxy is being controlled by the Galactic Empire... sorry, I mean Motherworld, and Senator Palpatine, sorry... I mean, Balisarius (Fra Free), the regent of Motherworld, has sent Hans Landa, sorry... I mean, Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein), to smoke out the Rebel Alliance. This time, I am not mistaken - Zack Snyder didn't bother to give any new name to the insurgent group.

So Noble and his Stormtroopers... sorry, well, I don't know what they are called here, land in Veldt, kill their chief, and demand food grains in surplus amounts that they have to fulfill within 10 months, even if it means the villagers would die of starvation feeding his army. Kora ends up massacring a unit stationed to monitor the village when they try to assault a village girl, who I believe might have something significant to do in the sequel. Oh yes, there is also C3PO, sorry... I mean, Jimmy, a mechanical robot who once served the dead king of Motherworld. He is voiced by none other than Sir Anthony Hopkins. Between Transformers: The Last Knight and now this, I wonder if the acting legend, known for his Shakespearean performances, is at the phase of his life where he just wants to troll his admirers.

Watch the Trailer of Rebel Moon:

Anyway, Kora realises she can't run anymore and decides to fight Noble's army when they arrive. Which means, she needs The Magnificent Seven, sorry... I mean, a team of warriors to help her defend the village. With the help of a fellow villager Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), Kora sets out to find the right fighters. On the way, Kora reveals to Gunnar - the film hints they harbour attraction for each other - that she was an orphan whose family and planet were killed by Balisarius, who, for reasons unknown, spared her life and raised her as his daughter. Gamora, sorry... I mean, Kora even becomes an officer in the Imperium, but something happened that forced her to betray her foster father, and she has been on the run since.

Their first recruit is this scruffy, street-smart mercenary who has his spaceship and whose name is Han Solo, sorry... I mean Kai (Charlie Hunnam). Other fighters they recruit on the way include General Titus (Djimon Hounsou), Tarak (Staz Nair... the Mallu in this writer is glad), Nemesis (Doona Bae), and a rebel warrior Darrian Bloodaxe (Ray Fisher). I wish I could just elucidate on what they bring to the team, but it hardly matters. The movie just doesn't allow these characters to be fleshed out, amidst all the focus stylised violence, and when one of them betrays the group and another one bites the dust, I hardly felt anything for them. Oh wait, since we are deep into parallels from other movies, there is also a scene involving Tarak (is his name a homage to Jr NTR?) taming and riding a beast that pretty much is a Hippogriff, in pretty much the same manner you tame the mythical beast from the Harry Potter films.

Some SPOILERS here, the film ends with Kora finding her Magnificent Seven and riding into the sunset back to the village, while the Empire is planning a bigger attack, and Thanos wants his general to bring Gamora to him. Okay, I am done correcting thing. I just hope the sequel has a more compelling story to say that doesn't feel derivative and has more fleshed-out characters. 'Cos, for all its faults, there is a visual ambition to the film that can't be ignored, the first act of the film set in Veldy was actually not bad, some creature designs are quite good like that creepy spider-lady voiced by Jena Malone and the inimitable Sofia Boutella is an impressive action hero who deserves better.

PS: So I read that Zack Snyder also has this Director's Cut ready for this installment which he is planning to release early next year, before the second part. Okay, what the hell is going on here? Why do you need to add more bloat to an already bloated film, that itself feels a stringent use of editing? Rebel Moon: Zack Snyder Reveals that Director's Cut of His Sci-Fi Epic Will Feature About 1 Hour of New Footage.

Final Thoughts

Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire takes us on a cosmic journey filled with stylised mayhem, the cult director's trademark tropes, and a plot that seems to have binge-watched every major sci-fi and fantasy franchise. In all these, the screenplay and character development just take a backseat, hoping you wouldn't notice as you figure out where Snyder took his next inspiration from. Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire is streaming on Netflix, with its sequel Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, scheduled for release on April 19, 2024.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 22, 2023 08:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).