It’s time to see if Zack Snyder’s second part to his Sci-Fi Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire will give fans what they want. Well, you’ll be happy, or unhappy, to know that I quite enjoyed Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver. I found it to be an enjoyable second part of what I believe is a much larger story.
First off, the film picks up immediately after the events of the first. Kora (Sofia Boutella) and the remaining members of her merry band have returned to Veldt. Unfortunately, it turns out that Noble (Ed Skrein) has returned from the grave and is ready to destroy Veldt so he can take Kora back to Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee).
The stage is set for a clash between the prodigal daughter and the faithful son.
To me, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver is an impressive film. Visually, Snyder is delivering for fans of action. There is one particular scene where Jimmy (Anthony Hopkins) has what I like to call his “Superman” moment and it’s fantastic. Also, Sofia and Ed put so much of themselves into the physicality of their roles. When they clash it’s utterly brilliant. They fight at one point in the film and the choreography and cinematography that went into their fight was visually electric.
Ed Skrein is a particular highlight in the film, chewing up the scenery as he dives into foxholes and shows off how deadly Noble is as a character. On the note of scenery chewing, Fra Fee returns as Kora’s despicable father figure. He’s once again in it for a short time, but the scene that he’s in is ridiculous, over the top and in my opinion brilliant.
The rest of the cast also gets their moments to shine. My favourite moment, and this may come from my background in tabletop gaming, was finding out their backstories. Everyone sells their motivations and it builds the universe of Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver well. I wanted to learn more about each of their respective lives and worlds, in particular Tarak’s (Staz Nair). I’m a sucker for druid princes that come from a kind of steampunk-esque citadel.
My biggest problem with Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver was that this still feels muzzled. There are clear chunks of the story taken out. Not only that, I feel like this should have been released as one whole story. I’m not sure what it is about me, but I would have happily sat down to a 6-hour single film with an R Rating and I would have loved it. If you’re going for a Sci-Fi Seven Samurai go for it.
Ultimately, this was a fun but flawed film. I know I’m in the minority, but the Rebel Moon duology is a bizarre and brilliant modern-day sci-fi epic.
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