'Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire' Is Another Generic Sci-Fi Action Film

Slow motion, epic music, and not much underneath, Rebel Moon-Part One: A Child of Fire is succinctly a Zack Snyder film. It's big, dumb, and loud. As mindless entertainment, Rebel Moon works on an action level. The choreography is smooth, and the hits come hard. RM has a fair share of impressive action scenes that get ruined by cartoony CGI. The actual fighting has a geography to it that is worth admiring. Most American action films cut frequently to hide the fact that the actors aren't actually hitting each other. Snyder opts for the audience to see the fists make contact. That is at least when his films are rated R. 

For being a movie that's supposed to be kick-ass fun, the violence is cut down when it should be ramped up. People's heads get blown to bits and their teeth knocked out, yet the violence is off-screen to appeal to a younger audience. But why? There are so many cool kills that lack their coolness when the camera hides the best part. Call me sadistic, but I like my violence to be gory when the film stylistically demands it to be. Rebel Moon is like a watered-down 300. It has Snyder's signature 24 frames per second that crank up to 240fps. The slow motion compliments the actor's combat training, highlighting their moves. But when it comes to the end kill in the middle of the fight dance, Snyder pivots. 

I can clearly tell he wants the film to be gruesome when the kills in this film are so brutal. Historically, Snyder loves playing with blood. Look no further than Watchmen or Dawn of the Dead as examples. Was there a compromise with Netflix where Snyder's film has to be rated PG-13? What sense does that make when your movie is on a streaming channel? The kids can easily scroll and select whatever film they want on their own. It's not like entering a movie theater where you must have a guardian present, or you can't get in. What audience would Snyder gain with a lower rating? 

Rebel Moon is a big-screen event film that is best viewed on a smaller screen, which is why it's on Netflix. I had the chance to see Rebel Moon in theater, and many of its effects don't hold up. There are CGI creatures who look as believable as Jar Jar Binks, some of the spaceships move like cartoons, and the film's indeliberate obviousness of several green screen backgrounds doesn't help either. Zack Snyder is usually a visually incredible director. Despite all his flaws, he has an eye that's uniquely his. You can look at one frame of his movie and know that it's a Zack Snyder film. Rebel Moon, however, is toned down to a certain degree. It's not filmed to look hyperrealistic like 300 or Sucker Punch was. The movie looks like The Creator, where it's made to look as realistic as possible. But towards the film's third act, everything looks fake. Perhaps intentionally so, but why mix styles and sets so drastically? 

With watered-down violence and lackluster visual effects, the story doesn't help itself either. The plot is a derivative of Star Wars. It's about space Nazis who want to seize control of everything and the rebels who fight back. The antagonists are even called the Imperiums instead of Imperials. The home planet our hero Kora (Sofia Boutella) is from is inhabited by humble farmers, similar to how Luke Skywalker grew up on a farm. And like Luke, there's a lineage to Kora that's beyond one of a simple farmer. 

The meat and potatoes of Rebel Moon's story get bogged down in long exchanges of exposition. There are about three flashbacks to Kora's past with narration to explain to the audience where she came from. It goes from being interesting to unintentionally comical. There's supposed to be a romantic friction between Kora and her fellow rebel, Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), but we don't see or feel any of it. Mostly because Kora has to blabber about her past again. Kora's past is integral to the plot but poorly written. In a better-written film, Kora's background could have come as a reveal from someone else, like the enemy. Hell, if you're going to go the Star Wars route, then have a "I am your father" moment. It could be the enemy telling Gunnar, "You don't know who she really is," thus revealing the skeletons in her closet to her love interest and the audience. 

Rebel Moon's middle act plays like a heist film. The Imperiums want to refurbish their mother world from the resources of Kora's home planet, robbing the farmers of their wheat. To stop them, Kora assembles a team of soldiers to help her form a rebellion. Each character is given a big intro, usually involving a fight or flight scene. By flight, I mean a man holding onto the back of a baby dragon. Each character is given a big entrance that uses action to show what they're capable of. There's the ninja warrior, the spartan, and the general. Aside from their physical abilities, there's not much in the way of character or personality. They play better as a class that's selectable in a role-playing game. 

When the team is assembled, the movie reaches a climactic third act that has the usual set of explosions and CGI buffoonery you'd expect from a blockbuster. Despite my earlier praise for the combat's choreography, there is some terrible choreographing in the final showdown. How can someone with a sword not get shot dead when there are several armed guards right next to her? 

When the film ends, it ends multiple times. If you've ever seen Zack Snyder's Justice League, you know what to expect. Several scenes feel like a climax where the camera cranes out for its ending shot. Then, unexpectedly, another scene begins that plays more like an unnecessary Marvel mid-credits sequence. Zack Snyder can make good movies. His Dawn of The Dead is a great, completely different take on a classic horror/comedy. Furthermore, Army of the Dead is a blast. Snyder works best when he deals with zombies more than people. Rebel Moon-Part One: A Child of Fire isn't dead on arrival but doesn't deliver much, either. It's a generic sci-fi film that does little to elevate its genre. Little do I care to see what Part Two will bring.