A ‘collect the team’ romp across an immensely familiar yet logically contradictory cosmos, Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon: Part One brings together a number of ill-defined characters as a not-so-Magnificent… Seven? Eighth? Not even that was obvious. There wasn’t much to like about it, save for one clever twist, the odd beautiful shot, and the underutilized robo-knight Jimmy (voiced by Anthony Hopkins). With its single-planet setting (the Amish-ish Veldt) and battle-scene thrust, Part Two is at least an upgrade over the first. Still, there isn’t much else to make it worthwhile.
Once again, Noble (Ed Skrein), the sinewy villain, is back on his feet and still appears to be sucking on a walnut, but this time, he is more interested in catching Kora (Boutella), who is once again given little to do than battle and look agonized. For the first hour or two, she doesn’t really realize this. The only thing she and her allies know is that the Imperium Dreadnought is expected in five days, so the first half of the movie has a sense of urgency that is quickly eroded by its oddly slow pace.
You won’t even notice that there are some major casualties.
The main focus of The Scargiver is farming up until the plasma starts spewing. Shot so beautifully and sensitively by writer/director Zack Snyder, using pre-industrial instruments (including, er, anti-grav platforms; evidently in this universe they can make things float but they don’t have combine harvesters), the whole thing begins to feel like an oddly high-def Soviet propaganda film. It’s also about making friends and exchanging backstories with the lowly locals, who manage to find time to create unique tapestries for every hero.
Nevertheless, instead of providing us with new information about General Titus (Djimon Hounsou, who delivers the most awkward dialogue in the movie), Bae Doona’s stoic but hollow Nemesis, or Elise Duffy, the person with the black stripe across their face, we’re treated to an entire information-dumping scene in which they all sit around a table and alternately monologue about their pasts. Tarak’s (Staz Nair) flashback is the most bizarre. It turns out that the axe-wielding, nips-flashing guy with the barbarian-like appearance is actually from a steampunk universe where ruff-necked dandies live.
Though most of the fighting takes place in a huge, brown field, it is a relief when it does, and you have to question Titus’ strategies—basically, running at them with sickles and hammers. In addition, Jimmy needs to kill a lot of lowly farmers before he can finally get his shiny metal butt in gear. You won’t even notice that there are some major casualties. There’s also a half-baked teasing of further Rebel Moon-like adventures, which is to be expected. It appears that the less-than-magnificent Five or Six now might make a comeback.