Zack Snyder’s ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’ Review — Pure Junk

If a thousand years from now, the sun has not exploded and people are still discussing movies that were released a millennium prior, one can only wonder what they will say about the strange sci-fi franchise that was Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon. Beginning with Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire last year and now continuing with Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, it has already become the most baffling duo of movies ever made. Part of the issue comes down to it being released on Netflix, where even great movies can be far too easily overlooked, but each installment also sets up something more that never actually materializes. This made a bit of sense with Part One, which was built around gathering a team to fight the oppressive forces of the militaristic Imperium, but what’s bizarre is how much Part Two falls into the same trappings that made the first so tiresome. It isn’t the worst thing to premiere on Netflix this year, but it’s one of the most forgettable.

Snyder originally conceived of the project as being a part of Star Wars before reconstructing it to be a supposedly original genre work. That’s something worth rooting for. However, while it is admirable to try to make something new in the genre, this sequel reveals the exercise to be original only in a general sense. Everything feels like it is lifting from not just Star Wars but better sci-fi movies writ large without adding anything new to the experience. Not only is The Scargiver not Snyder’s The Empire Strikes Back, but it’s even worse than Part One. Its ambitions have gotten infinitely smaller, as though it is all moving backward. That this occurs in slow motion just makes it that much more exhausting. There is no sense of adventure, no emotional connection to the characters, and, most egregiously, the action is thuddingly dull. This is from a frequent appreciator of Snyder who will defend Watchmen and, yes, even Sucker Punch. The Scargiver isn’t a disaster, but it’s something far worse: boring.

What Is ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’ About?

Picking up shortly after the events of Part One, we accompany the titular Scargiver herself, Kora (Sofia Boutella), as she returns to the world of Veldt. She thinks she’s killed Atticus Noble, played by Ed Skrein, and that they are in the clear, for reasons that already don’t make any sense when characters explain them. Of course, they soon learn what we as the audience already knew: he has been resurrected. Thus, Kora, Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), Titus (Djimon Hounsou), Nemesis (Doona Bae), Tarak (Staz Nair), and Milius (Elise Duff) must prepare for a coming attack against an enemy that has them outgunned. It’s more of the same standard sci-fi stuff that was done in the first film but now reserved to only one planet that barely feels like a real place.

Whatever already fleeting intrigue Part One managed to tap into by showing us brief glimpses of other planets and histories gets stripped away here. The viewer mostly ends up watching a lot of flashbacks, including one ridiculous conversation scene where everyone around a table gets their turn in a game of exposition roulette. It’s like this film is doing everything the last one did on overdrive, confining any insights we may get about the characters to one clunky monologue after another. Though almost unintentionally comedic, Part Two is too much of a slog that takes itself more seriously than it has any business pretending to be.

Kora is still the most developed character of the bunch, but that’s not saying much. None of this is the fault of the cast as much as it is how scattershot the writing is. Boutella again proves she can almost carry a scene with her physical presence alone, which she previously did to remarkable effect in films like Kingsman: The Secret Service and Climax, though The Scargiver doesn’t give her many chances to do so. Perhaps most unfortunate is that Hounsou, long undervalued in movies generally, is again doing great work here. A speech he gives before the group charges into battle seems like it is going to be the type of show-stopping moment that gives the subsequent action emotional stakes. Not only does this not happen, as he only ever gets a few lines in frequently truncated scenes, but the action is just not that impactful.

‘The Scargiver’s Action and Characters Fall Flat

Snyder has made use of slow motion in many of his films before. 300 used it to make everything into an almost mythic visual spectacle, and Sucker Punch saw the camera dancing around more with the characters, but this technique is often distancing rather than dynamic in The Scargiver. Some of this comes down to how little we seem to know any of these characters, a problem that extends beyond the main cast to the inhabitants of Veldt, who barely rise to the level of one-dimensional. Even when several supposedly significant characters die, you’re just left mourning the idea of someone we could have known though barely got to in the time they were on-screen. Each of them is distinct in look and fighting style, though empty at their core.

The main problem the film just keeps coming back to is that the action isn’t up to snuff. Considering this is what nearly the entire last hour is focused on, it presents a serious problem. All the flat characters could be put to the side if something was thrilling about the experience in the last act. There are brief flashes of more engaging action choreography and staging, though The Scargiver stumbles just as often. One might wonder if it would pack more of a punch with the R-rated cut Snyder has talked about. The thing is, not only is that not the cut that was released, but the way everything is choreographed and shot would remain the same.

Everything builds up to one moment surrounding a certain robotic character, voiced with a gravitas by Anthony Hopkins that goes largely wasted, but even this is a letdown. In addition to passing rather quickly, The Scargiver feels like it is bringing in a character from a completely different and potentially better movie. You can see the possibilities that exist from exploring this element of the film more, only for Part Two to subsequently abandon them in favor of a blandly explosive finale where characters fall through a fiery crashing ship that remains painfully constrained by how little of it looks remotely close to real.

‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’s Ending Crashes and Burns

The culmination of The Scargiver starts to even more shamelessly lift from Star Wars, but this is only superficial. It doesn’t manage to bring the same resonance to its reversals of fate or reveals, even as it sets up for more. Oddly, the movie I kept thinking about most was Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, which, unfortunately for Rebel Moon, made its streaming debut earlier this week. Each split their stories into two parts, and each was attempting to expand even further with their finales. The difference is that each part of Villeneuve’s Dune can mostly work on its own, with the second being better than the first, and create earned interest in a potential third film. The Scargiver is so busy looking ahead to what could come next while continually failing to take the steps necessary to make us even remotely care about the story getting there.

Not only does neither part of Rebel Moon work, but The Scargiver is such a downgrade that it could prove difficult for the franchise to bounce back for more. The story narrows itself so comprehensively that it scrambles to reach for a dangling thread in a forced closing conversation. That Snyder has expressed his interest in making not only another film but instead a potential six movies in total may excite those who also appreciated his earlier work. For those who have now seen these two, it feels more like a threat rather than a tease.

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver

REVIEW

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver is a poor sci-fi film and a downgrade from Zack Snyder’s other superior past work.

Pros

• The cast, especially Sofia Boutella and Djimon Hounsou, do the best they can with lackluster material.

Cons

• While Part One was not great either, Part Two feels like a step back, with nothing even remotely interesting going on.
• The characters are largely all flat and without any emotional depth even after spending two movies with them.
• All of the action is completely lackluster, something that couldn’t just be saved with an R-rated cut.
• The ending crashes and burns, making the tease for more feel like more of a threat than anything else.

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver is now available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

WATCH ON NETFLIX