You’ve probably heard some negative things about the first installment of co-writer/director Zack Snyder’s two-part Netflix film, Rebel Moon. After you watch the first several minutes, it’s hard not to believe that such criticisms are valid. The film’s introductory moments are filled with confusing and excessively detailed exposition designed to set up its sci-fi, Star Wars-like universe. The background and specifics of the universe are lazily communicated through either confusing, overly long, and unfocused voice-over or heavy-handed and unnaturally expository dialogue. During the early moments of the film, Snyder’s weaknesses with character development, direct and simple narrative, and consistent pacing are on full display.
The great surprise that the film offers if you stick with it, however, is the eventual full display of Snyder’s strengths, as well. Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire is a downright gorgeous movie brimming with breathtaking and endlessly innovative visual designs that help build a believable and tangible world. It also showcases impressive practical and digital effects, exquisitely crafted make-up creations, wowing action set pieces that verge on poeticism, and cast members that consistently demand attention. It’s not a perfect movie by any stretch, but, damn, is it a thrilling one that repeatedly sparks the imagination and, despite its debt to many classics of the same genre, gives us a sci-fi/adventure the likes of which we haven’t quite before seen.
The story and the world are quite complex (admittedly to a confusing degree at times), but the plot is actually fairly simple and straightforward. The farming inhabitants of a distant moon are forced to share their already-limited crop with the inhabitants of an army ship led by a sinister and tyrannical captain (Ed Skrein). A loner farmer (Sofia Boutella) fights back and goes on to travel in search of allies to aid in her war. Battles, betrayals, and many forms of enticing drama and riveting thrills ensue.
Boutella, in her first time carrying a large-budgeted feature, is a natural and charismatic movie star. She is wholly believable in her portrayal of a tough-as-nails-yet-vulnerable character. She not only has the depth to convey complex emotions underneath a stoic exterior, but she also has an impressively controlled physicality that communicates great strength and allows her to carry out fight choreography with the appearance of naturalism and ease. Boutella deserves to be a household name for delivering such a disciplined and layered performance.
Skrein is a wonderfully despicable villain. He icily and smoothly moves through his scenes like a sinister reptile, conveying no empathy and minimal humanity. He delivers his lines with direct and emotionless clarity, particularly in moments when he does the most harm. He is a believable threat the moment he appears onscreen and remains as such throughout the film.
It is almost needless to say, however, that the true star of the film is Snyder. The fascinating and meticulous visual details, the bold and grand emotions during key dramatic moments, and the inventively composed camera set-ups could not have been executed in the same manner by any other filmmaker. He may not be making arthouse movies that contemplate God, life, and death (though one could make the argument such themes are still present in much of his work), but he is still an auteur in the truest and purest sense of the word. Love him or hate him, Zack Snyder is, quite simply put, a singular presence in the filmmaking industry.
As its title suggests, Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire is only the beginning of the story. Part Two is set to be released on Netflix a few months after Part One’s release in December of 2023. There is also an extended, R-rated director’s cut of Part One that is to be released in early 2024. I, for one, am hooked on Snyder’s universe and can’t wait for more. While I’m certain it won’t be flawless, I have little doubt that the continuation of Rebel Moon will be fascinating, thrilling, and strikingly beautiful in a way that only Zack Snyder can accomplish.
GRADE: A-
