I Just Watched Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire: A Review
A hot mess of a movie, with derivative but subverted tropes and disjointed dialogue. However, a triumph of an original movie that straddles transcendent and disastrous filmmaking almost effortlessly. Zach Snyder goes full “Zach Snyder” on Rebel Moon, and I embrace him for it.
By Segun Ade-Martins
Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2024! Last year (already?!) I committed to bringing some reviews. Today is the first delivery of Rebel Moon: Part One — A Child of Fire from a screenplay written by Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, and Shay Hatten. Released exclusively on Netflix on December 22, 2023.
Preview
From my corner of the internet, it felt like the anticipation was immense for this film. Netflix, paired with Zach Synder, seems to be bringing the eyeballs.
In the past, Netflix hit some income ‘speed bumps’ with Oscar-worthy auteur filmmakers and is now looking for blockbusters. Here comes Snyder with an ‘original’ film set to be another highly watched and talked-about blockbuster for streaming.
What didn’t work
Usually, the editing in the first twenty minutes of a movie feels effortless and flows beautifully. At least that’s the hallmark of many a half-decent film, but the scene transitions felt janky. The dialogue didn’t flow as smoothly as I would expect from a film of this calibre (budget).
I particularly noticed this in the beginning phase of the ‘recruitment’ scenes. It didn’t feel like the crew nailed the pacing.
The overemphasis on ‘movie moments’ wasn’t enjoyable. As a filmmaker who struggles to place ‘movie moments’ in my work, I find that Zach Snyder movies tend to have too many and, for a few seconds, too long. There’s no exception for Rebel Moon.
For example, slow motion shots are movie moments, characters staring off into the distance in anguish, or contemplation of forced profound lines are ‘movie moments’. That, in my opinion, is candy or icing.
There is a perfect mix of character development and plot advancement that drives thematic communication. Of course, this ‘perfect mix’ is a moving target and varies across story, genre, and format.
Rebel Moon is further from that perfect balance than I would like. It’s not wildly off, but I feel it could be considerably better.
I feel the movie suffers from the above because Snyder insists on being the cinematographer and indulges in unnecessary shots. Like the very cool close-up of a prop during a key moment in the final fight. Why?!
What worked
Somewhere in the second act, in between all the brilliantly choreographed but seemingly pointless fight scenes, Kai and Kora have a chat where Kai says, “Guilt is the underbelly of honour.”
A profound statement that reverberates throughout the film, this is the standout moment and the lynchpin moment of the movie or even the series.
Thematically, that ‘guilt and honour’ line glues the whole mess together in the third act in a brilliant way. A twist in Act 1 sets off the final battle. As key character details are revealed.
Despite its Star Wars influence, there’s another movie that it follows more closely. And that’s Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai) for film nerds, or Magnificent Seven for the rest of us.
I consider myself a half-film nerd (haf-feem) because I can appreciate art house “cinema,” cheesy blockbusters, and everything in between. The team recruitment scenes are an exercise in “one-upmanship” compared to the Magnificent Seven.
Also, because this movie relies heavily on the team recruitment scenes to drive the plot, it also makes it ripe for subversion of expectations.
It appears that this is Zach Snyder’s major signature, subverting our expectations ever so slightly. However, this signature is hit-and-miss.
Production: Technical
The Red V-Raptor XL was the camera of choice. Zach’s gone digital again! His buddy Christopher Nolan would be getting increasingly frustrated about that.
However, I can understand the use of digital for this movie. His desire to shoot wide open and a slimmer budget may have dictated that he shoot digitally, just like in The Army of the Dead.
Which brings up why I found the lensing of the movie looked weird. The movie was shot with a wide-open aperture from a boutique lens set, Zero Optik Summiscope Lenses, between T0.95 and T1.5. For comparison, most movies are shot between T2.8 and T4.
So, Snyder’s focus puller must have hated him with such intensity. I know if I were them, I would have. What a gonzo thing to do, but I love it. The size of this man’s nuts. Actually, forget the size; it’s more like he has balls of steel.
All in all, I rate it 6.7 out of 10. It’s a solid action-adventure film, entertaining but with the hallmarks of Zach Snyder (for better or worse). Yeah, it’s derivative, but I recall that in 2010, some CGI version of Dances with Wolves featuring blue alien giants got Oscar nominations and walked away with three of the statuettes.
So, derivative is not a film sin; I don’t know why the headlines of reviews I have seen keep signalling that this is a terrible thing.
Basically, this is a piece of entertainment. Did it entertain? Absolutely, yes. Does it have a lot of warts? Definitely, yes. Is it the worst piece of entertainment? Of course not.
Is it more entertaining than many blockbusters, including many MCU duds, in the last three years? I would say yes.
Is it a piece of high art? If you look at it a certain way, yes. Through the lens of appropriation theory in art, Essentially, Rebel Moon is similar to a Madlib beat tape. Sampling galore!
Originally published at http://thestrangejournal.wordpress.com on January 1, 2024.
