Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire

Without the slow motion, it would have been half the running time. But okay. Let's just say I had a pretty decent time for the first half at the expense of Zack Snyder trying to embrace the concept of The Magnificent Seven and graft onto it some mythology that would stand up to many sequels. It didn't annoy me, even the graphic sequences from the panels of some overstuffed comic book somehow survived unscathed. But then it starts flying around planets, making do with a few ugly CGI settings, even darker, perhaps to make the digital clutter not so in your eyes. Snyder stuffs in a few generic fights that won't get a normal viewer out of their chair, without any suspense, let alone a hint of atmosphere, and with a villain that looks like out of a classy S&M club. Everything that happens after the scene of the monster taming is one big visually ugly waste, and that's pretty much the entire second half, with one slow-motion sequence after another, where Snyder must have thought that if it worked in 300, it must work here. No, Zack, it really doesn't, maybe in your wet post-pubescent dreams. (01/05/2024)

A fun guilty pleasure where Zack Snyder bit off more than he could chew, but I have no problem with it. We didn't get a proper sci-fi flick this year. Creator was a dull bore and this, though ripping off a lot of other movies, was more likeable than the whole Star Wars thing, which I hate. Part of it may be the fact that I have a soft spot for movies where a team is being put together (The Magnificent Seven vibes!), I've loved Sofia Boutella since Kingsman, and Charlie Hunnam is a good too. The ruthless bad guy Ed Skrein of Nazi ilk kept me entertained and the rest of the characters are pretty okay. Too bad the character development and interaction between them is nil (it’s definitely missing some banter), but I can forgive that. The atmosphere and visuals have a "Warhammer" feel to them, which I applaud, and the action isn't bad. The barn fight is very good (I can imagine some decent gore if the film had been R-rated). Too bad Snyder didn't release an R-rated version immediately, the final impression could have been better. The finale is a bit meh, even though there is one minor twist, it doesn't quite pull it off. All in all I have no problem with the movie, I wasn't bored , the world was interesting, but I'd rather see an Army of the Dead sequel than this. Too bad they didn't add more monster-spiders here, it was excellent. 6/10. (12/27/2023)

There’s one rather unexpected twist, other than that, it's a compilation of situations seen elsewhere, nonsensical statements and hacked scenes. I'll admit I considered looking up the Snyder cut, since Snyder didn't bother to edit this film and I probably would have done better. There's a lot of stuff I don't understand why it's even there... like the unnecessary flight on Klofan. WTF? Maybe the ridiculous persuasion of that disparate bunch with the ear-splitting dialogue and odd behavior of most of the characters goes away in the edits. Maybe. I'm sorry about the weaker ship and weapon design and the sloppiness of the visual effects, an edit won't fix that. Sofia Boutella tries her best, Ed Skrein enjoys his sturmbannführer and nobody has much to show for it apart from the traditionally fine Charlie Hunnam. Hopefully the second part will be all about the slow motion action. Zack Snyder should leave the screenwriting to someone more capable. P.S: The best character is actually Anthony Hopkins's Jimmy, but they don't really take him on a road trip. (12/24/2023)

I like Zack Snyder, I consider his comic book movies to be the best ever made in the genre (yes, I'm talking about the recent ones), and I like him as a person for his passion for the cause. However, what the hell was this supposed to be? I don't mind that the film rips off/draws from wherever it can, the trailer had already prepared me for that, but why on earth is it so... Empty? Stupid? Bloated? Boring? If the opening shot makes you giggle like a teenager and the following monologue, which is supposed to explain what kind of world we're in, doesn't explain anything, let me tell you that it doesn't get any better in the next minutes, tens of minutes, two hours. Perhaps only the desire to mock will pass you by, because Rebel Moon isn't worth that either. In This is the kind of film that would have ended up on videotape at best in the 1980s or 1990s, even though its creators were convinced they had made a masterpiece. It didn't work this time, Zack, and I don't think the second part will fix it. (12/25/2023)

Zack Snyder really needs to stop directing his own scripts. It's not doing him any favors, and it's certainly not doing any favors for those of us who, fifteen years ago, thought he was an up-and-coming filmmaker whose work we’d always want to see. Now, I know I don't want to see any more. Rebel Moon should never have been made. The producers of Star Wars, who Snyder originally pitched this to, knew exactly why they didn't want to turn this idea into another story episode. And others also sensed that this was going to be a mess. But then Netflix stepped in, knowing they could draw in viewers based on the names attached to the project, regardless of the film’s actual quality. People might watch it once, but many will struggle to finish it. This film is an absolute disaster. It has all the hallmarks of a decent sci-fi flick, but all the good elements are things we've seen before — and enjoyed more elsewhere. Here, it’s just an embarrassment. If only Zack could accept that screenwriting isn't his forte and instead adapt a well-regarded sci-fi novel. That, I believe, he could pull off — provided he doesn’t meddle with the story. As it stands, this film is a complete mess. How am I supposed to get excited about this universe after such a poor start? Maybe Zack will clear things up in the second part, but I’m not holding my breath. (12/27/2023)