‘Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire’ Netflix Movie Review - An Unimaginative Mess

Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire, which he co-wrote with Kurt Johnstad and Shay Hatten, is one of the laziest films of the year. Three writers wrote the screenplay, and this is what they managed to come up with? On the scale of imagination, Rebel Moon falls somewhere on the negative side. The characters, and the circumstances, are not fueled by fervor, and the scenes progress in the most sluggish manner. Characters join hands and betray each other with this dumb motivation, "Eh, it's written in the script." Sofia Boutella, as Kora, who is front and center here, puts on a stern, dour expression. If the movie had been any better, we would have connected this cheerlessness to her dramatic past. But given the monumental disaster that Rebel Moon ends up being, her face and ours become similar. She seems to be speaking directly to us, saying, "I know this movie is terrible."

The story is absolutely generic and is told without any creative power. Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) visits the inhabitants of Veidt to take grain for his army. When Sindri (Corey Stoll), the village chief, refuses to shake hands with Atticus, he is killed in front of the villagers. These villagers think their farming skills can make them an indispensable asset, but Kora knows Atticus will eventually murder every inhabitant of Veidt. At first, she packs her bag and decides to run. But then Kora chooses to attack the oppressors after seeing a local woman getting sexually harassed by Atticus' men. This means she goes on a mission to assemble a group of warriors who will fight with her.

These warriors almost instantly join Kora. They display little to no doubt or resistance as if they were born to simply fulfill Kora's mission. Titus (Djimon Hounsou), a former general, and Nemesis (Doona Bae), a swordmaster, reveal slight traces of sadness, but ultimately, all the recruits have a personality that can be equated to that of a non-playable character (NPC). They are hollow, and Snyder uses them as chess pieces to craft "grand, calculated visuals" like the one where Tarak (Staz Nair) jumps on a bennu - a giant bird. Snyder's childlike enthusiasm comes to the foreground whenever he uses slow motion. The technique is applied to infuse style in his images, though they end up highlighting its emptiness. Without any emotional tissue connecting these visuals, they merely come across as lifeless vistas.

It doesn't help that the CGI work here is truly awful. The ugly images, which don't even deserve to be called screensavers, make your eyes vomit in repulsion. Rebel Moon never achieves a comic book-like aesthetic because the panels in comic books look more beautiful than this visual muck. No one in the film draws you into the story, leaving you a passive, distant observer. Sam (Charlotte Maggi), a farm girl, warmly touches a robot, and the machine attacks a bad man. Tarak warmly touches a bennu, and the bird attacks a cruel owner. There is something here about the universality of kindness and how it can motivate you to stand up against injustice. However, such notions are rendered incoherent by this expensive mess. The actors gravely pose in their costumes, the director smiles mischievously while creating blank shots, and the viewer impatiently waits for the end credits to roll.

Final Score- [2.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times