Rebel Moon: Part 1 –
A Child of Fire

3 outta 5

Director Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon: Part 1 – A Child of Fire is a dystopian sci-fi opera that feels about as Zack Snyder-y as one could imagine. As Snyder has had the idea for years, and once pitched it as a Star Wars movie to Lucasfilm, there is a lot of Star Wars here. The big ideas, robots, aliens, space fascists, prophecy, rebellion and farmers are all cribbed from Star Wars and Dune and the characters are men on a mission tropes. The overriding bleak colour scheme and tone feel cribbed from Snyder’s never realized last two Justice League DC movies about the grim Knightmare future. There aren’t a lot of surprises but there are some cool scenes, awesome action bits, stellar visuals, and decent performance moments. There’s a lot of dour stuff, as to be expected from Snyder movies, and it certainly isn’t a very satisfying singular movie as it just sort of ends. As far as knock-off Star Wars stories go, this is serviceable.

On a farming planet lives Kora (Sofia Boutella), a simple woman trying to keep her head down, but things go badly when the galaxy ruling Imperium shows up, led by the nefarious Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein). When Noble asks for a supply of grain, the village leader lies which gets him dead, and now a garrison of Imperium soldiers are left behind to monitor the planet. After some violence, Kora is on a quest with the farmer Gunnar (Michiel Huisman) to find warriors to fight back against the Imperium. They find a charming rogue space smuggler, Kai (Charlie Hunnam), who flies them around the galaxy to recruit fighters. But Kora’s tragic history is tied into the Imperium itself and she isn’t just a simple farmer after all.

The structure of the film is cribbed from “men on a mission” films, like Seven Samurai which itself was an influence on Star Wars. And Snyder’s last few movies have had “going around to recruit the best people” bits like Justice League and Army of the Dead. It is an easy way to introduce characters as each team member gets their own bit. Not every introductory moment is as revelatory or original as the movie thinks it is. But there’s still nifty sequences and Synder is such a visually assured director that everything looks great if a bit bleak. There’s a whole scene where a recruit, the animal talking Tarak (Staz Nair) tames a griffin, which is neat but doesn’t get followed up on. This is part one of a two-part movie so there isn’t really a payoff to any of these bits.

One of the movie’s coolest characters, a robot named Jimmy and voiced by Anthony Hopkins, is a pacifist robot that turns violent to save someone. There’s also a cool visual of Jimmy getting a crown of flowers to make him seem more human. After a big moment, he just disappears for the rest of the film until a shot at the end which is a shame because he’s the most interesting character. Apparently, there will be a four-hour long director’s cut in the future featuring more Jimmy. However, if one wants to experience two four-hour movies, maybe breaking it up into smaller chunks would be for the best.

Boutella as Kora does a lot of snarling but she’s pretty good at that, and there’s a well-done scene where she narrates her backstory about what she was doing before she landed on the farming planet. The one moment when she snaps and must protect an innocent from the leering Imperium soldiers has stirring performance beats from her. It should be noted that these Imperium soldiers are absurdly evil, trying to take advantage of an innocent water-supplying local girl, so them being brutally killed is okay.

The start of the film is set almost entirely on the farming planet which can be a drag, but things get better when Skrein’s Atticus shows up. Skrein is the best thing about the movie as he struts about being a space fascist and his final scene is an overt Darth Vader and the Emperor bit. Charlie Hunnam’s Kai is basically Han Solo, quippy and seemingly with a heart of gold, but he does do something interesting by the end. Huisman’s farmer gets to make a terrible mistake at the start then tags along making puppy dog eyes at Kora. The rest of the crew each have a standout scene, although one of the character’s is named “Nemesis” which seems silly.

Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire takes a lot from other sci-fi franchises. There are mostly humans here and the inclusion of space aliens as bit characters seems a bit random, but one just must accept aliens being a part of the world because it is a space opera. There’s a disturbing bit when one alien is using a human to talk that is unique. There are flashback action scene montages, one badass shootout with Kora and the Imperium thugs, a fight with a spider-lady, and an action scene at the end of the movie that stands out. This works in fits and starts, promising a more complete experience with Part Two in April. Maybe it’ll be a bit more original next time.