Movie Review: ‘Rebel Moon: Part Two –– The Scargiver’

Sofia Boutella as Kora in 'Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver.'

On Netflix on Friday, April 19th, ‘Rebel Moon: Part Two –– The Scargiver’ sees director Zack Snyder offering up the second chapter of his expansive, war-happy space adventure, this time with a narrowed focus and slightly more coherent storyline.

Yet, like the first part, it doesn’t work, falling into the feeling of a lower-rent ‘Star Wars’ movie that disappoints on many levels.

Does ‘Rebel Moon: Part Two –– The Scargiver’ fly?

Staz Nair as Tarak and Djimon Hounsou as General Titus in 'Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver.'

If you watched the first part of ‘Rebel Moon’ and had your socks knocked off at its audacious, sweeping scale and intense science fiction action… Then good for you. But we wonder if we watched a different movie.

For those who found that outing an unoriginal slog filled with cliches and tropes and wondered if a follow-up could do the impossible and actually come off worse, then… Zack Snyder is here to unfortunately confirm that suspicion.

Because ‘The Scargiver’ somehow manages to be full of battles and stakes and yet completely devoid of authentic emotion or reaction. True, some of the heroes here don’t make it out alive, but you honestly will not care. And the rest? Pure noise and bolted-together nonsense.

Script and Direction

Director/writer/producer Zack Snyder on the set of 'Rebel Moon.'

The script for ‘The Scargiver’ simply and obviously continues what ‘A Child of Fire’ began –– Sofia Boutella’s Kora has returned to the pastoral moon of Veldt with the warriors she thinks could defend the place. But bafflingly (due to some poorly explained Motherworld policy), she seems to believe that all will be well since she managed to slay Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein). Alas! Not only is Noble not dead thanks to some slightly Darth Vader-like medical treatment, but he’s also boiling with vengeance towards Kora and is only too happy to take it out on Veldt.

Yet the new movie somehow manages to waste even the vaguest spark of an idea, any potential value buried in a mire of off-the-peg motivational speeches that would make someone giving out advice at a Holiday Inn conference room cringe. Even seasoned performers such as Anthony Hopkins cannot make this stuff work.

Elise Duffy as Milius and Staz Nair as Tarak in 'Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver.'

The pacing is also way off, the first third of the movie stilted and awkward, grinding to a halt as various characters fill the people of Veldt (and, by extension, whoever is watching and not already asleep by that point) in on their backstories. There are zero surprises to be found here, except perhaps from Staz Nair’s Tarak, who it turns out is these days often shirtless but used to be a buttoned-up prince whose people used giant warbirds in the hope that they can battle spaceships –– it did not go well for them! Yet even that seemingly impressive sequence feels like Snyder borrowing, in this case from himself, as it has echoes of the opening scenes of ‘Man of Steel’.

Snyder also still indulges himself on the visual front –– for every impressive location shot or beautiful looking sequence of a ship against a giant ringed moon, there are a hundred generic moments of laser blast fire and such an overload of slow-motion that you could watch the movie on fast forward and large chunks of it would appear to be playing at normal speed. A director having a stamped-on style is one thing. A filmmaker lazily going to the well so many times that it quickly runs dry is quite another.

Performances

Ed Skrein as Atticus Noble in 'Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver'.

‘Rebel Moon’s returning cast don’t manage to spin the material into gold any more than they did the original. In many ways, they’re even more stranded among their director’s indulgences.

As we mentioned above, the initial chunk of the film splits its time between Ed Skrein’s Darth V… Sorry, Admiral Noble being angry (Skrein still at least seems to be having fun swallowing scenery) and either the warrior characters spinning their wheels talking about their background, or long, dull sequences of farming that make it all look like a Budweiser commercial.

Doona Bae as Nemesis in 'Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver.'

Sofia Boutella carries the lion’s share of the character work, her own backstory an entirely unsurprising tale of betrayal, but even she’s stranded in a character who appears to have two modes: violent fighter or mopey love interest.

The likes of Bae Doona, Djimon Hounsou and E. Duffy likewise remain entirely wasted in their supporting roles, whose character development is relegated to fighting or worrying.

Everyone else is an archetype in search of a character, less active participants than human props.

Final Thoughts

An utterly disappointing follow-up to the first ‘Rebel Moon’ that we didn’t think was possible, this easily limbos under the low bar set by that movie. A waste of time, money and actors, it is reduced to embarrassingly cringeworthy moments such as a quartet still playing dramatic music in the same room as a king is being portrayed or long, battering sequences of war machines shooting at people.

This so wants to aim for the quality and majesty of movies such as the recent ‘Dune: Part Two’ but ends up hitting ‘Dumb: Part Two’. Snyder has already talked about, and leaves us with, hints of further stories to come, but that’s not something to anticipate after this.

‘Rebel Moon: Part Two –– The Scargiver’ receives 5.5 out of 10 stars.

PG-132 hr 3 minApr 19th, 2024

Showtimes & Tickets

The rebels gear up for battle against the Motherworld as unbreakable bonds are forged, heroes emerge — and legends are made. Read the Plot

What is the plot of ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’?

Kora (Sofia Boutella) and the surviving warriors prepare to fight and defend their new homeworld Veldt against the Motherworld.

Who is in the cast of ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’?

Sofia Boutella as Kora / Arthelais

Djimon Hounsou as Titus

Ed Skrein as Atticus Noble

Michiel Huisman as Gunnar

Doona Bae as Nemesis

Staz Nair as Tarak

Fra Fee as Regent Balisarius

Elise Duffy as Millius

Anthony Hopkins as the voice of Jimmy

(L to R) Sofia Boutella as Kora, Michiel Huisman as Gunnar and Ed Skrein as Atticus Noble in ‘Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver’. Photo: Netflix © 2024.

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