Just four months after Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire hit Netflix, Zack Snyder’s action-packed space opera returns with the second installment, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver. The first movie started promising before descending into an assemble movie that lacked character development and relied too heavily on slo-mo. With the assembling taken care of, you’d think The Scargiver would be able to focus on building relationships and crafting that emotional resonance the first part lacked. Unfortunately, it’s more the same.
The film picks up with Kora (Sofia Boutella), Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), and our motley crew back on Veldt, the tiny moon planet expected to deliver a hefty grain supply to the Motherworld. After discovering the villainous Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein) is back from the dead, Titus (Djimon Hounsou) and Co. enact a plan to take down the bad guys. Turning villagers into military-level fighters in just five days is a big ask that somehow (mostly) works with a little guerrilla warfare thrown in the mix. What follows is some decent action sequences and fiery explosions. It’s just a shame there are never any emotional beats to balance them out.
Rebel Moon: Part 2 Is Pretty (But Also Pretty Lackluster)
The Scargiver isn’t all bad. Much like A Child of Fire, the film is visually captivating. Veldt is a stunning setpiece that meshes sci-fi with a Middle Age-esque village aesthetic. Could we have done without the prolonged slo-mo wheat harvesting scene? Absolutely. However, Snyder’s cinematography remains a highlight in a film with few others. The explosions are massive, the fight choreography is decent, and for brief moments, it’s easy to get lost in the action.
It’s not surprising. Snyder is an action guy, and he deploys his usual tricks. The last hour of The Scargiver primarily bounces from large-scale battles to one-on-one (or one-on-many in the case of Bae Doona‘s Nemesis) encounters. There is choppy editing and the trademark slo-mo abundance, but there are also moments of (maybe unintentional) humor.
Gunnar sliding by as Kora and Admiral Noble have their big face-off is pretty funny. Just like Jimmy’s (Anthony Hopkins) mid-battle drop-in borders on eye-rolling silliness. If Snyder had fully committed to the gimmicky action tropes, it might’ve worked. Instead, the self-serious tone just makes those moments feel out of place.
Exposition Doesn’t Equal Emotional Resonance
A Child of Fire lacked character development, making emotional investment challenging; The Scargiver isn’t much better. Our main characters barely interact with each other, and their limited bonding extends to a round-table moment where they trade tragic backstories punctuated with unneeded flashbacks. We are also led to believe the villagers have bonded with these heroes, but again, we don’t see it. Sorry, a gift-giving scene doesn’t cut it.
In Rebel Moon, emotional beats don’t happen organically; they’re forced, almost appearing like an afterthought. Kora and Gunnar’s relationship also falls victim to this. And while this will remain free of heavy spoilers, even romance doesn’t escape a poor script. The actors do what they can. Their performances manage to feel authentic despite the movie’s flaws.
Rebel Moon Ignores Resolution for More Movies
Originally billed as a two-part installment, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver doesn’t end as promised. Princess Issa is still alive (as predicted in the first movie), and our heroes conclude the film by setting up for another adventure. It’s risky to end a movie with an unresolved twist, suggesting this isn’t the last we will see of Rebel Moon‘s derivative universe.
While chatting to RadioTimes, Snyder hinted at “four or six” more movies. For Snyder fans, it might be a dream come true. As for the rest of us, two Rebel Moon movies already seem like way more than enough.
