A Replacement for Star Wars?
Without a doubt, Star Wars is a major cult, even if currently a cult with a very tarnished reputation. Although Disney has been releasing relatively digestible series lately, the last trilogy certainly did not represent a qualitatively satisfying conclusion to this magical saga.
Instead, we were served a very hard-to-digest three-course dinner, from the last of which some orthodox fans are still feeling ill today.
However, those expecting Netflix's latest film addition to be better will likely be very disappointed. Rebel Moon does not just fail to surpass the low bar set by the latest Star Wars movies, but it is even well below it.
When Two Do the Same, It Is Not the Same
In his time, George Lucas managed to create a functional fantasy world that millions of fans still like to return to today. It's a living place that seems like it could really work somewhere far away in the universe.
Zack Snyder, however, did not create such a world. From his head fell only a generic mix that parasitizes much more famous brands. Practically everything in the film has already been seen elsewhere, and in a better execution.
Snyder most heavily borrows from the aforementioned Star Wars and from Seven Samurai. He essentially stole the entire story from them. It revolves around the recruitment of volunteers whose task is to protect an agricultural colony from raiders.
In Rebel Moon, however, the main heroes face not a criminal gang, but the armed forces of the Mother World, the local equivalent of the Galactic Empire. Evil in this film is embodied mainly by Admiral Atticus, one of the leading Nazis of the Mother World.
Unlike the bandits from Seven Samurai, the admiral has at his disposal not only an army but also at least one space battleship. The basic premise of the story is therefore completely pilfered and in this case does not make much sense.
But that could be tactfully overlooked. It would have sufficed if the individual mercenaries were real personalities entertaining with good mutual dialogues. However, this is also not something viewers can expect from Rebel Moon.
All characters are in all respects boring and unremarkable. Often they also lack believable motivation. A better script might have been written even by an alpha version of ChatGPT.
Two Hours of Desperation
The main role is played by Sofia Boutella. Viewers may remember her from the first Kingsman. In Rebel Moon, she plays Koru, a former elite soldier of the Mother World. From the slightly more famous names, Charlie Hunnam and Djimon Hounsou also appear in the film.
None of the actors seem to have exerted themselves much during filming. In Rebel Moon, there is not much room for any miraculous acting performances.
The film is just a collage of ear-splitting dialogues and not very successful action scenes. For some, the visual aspect may be a positive, but even in this case, it's nothing special. The television budget is evident in the result.
Rebel Moon was originally meant to be another film from the world of Star Wars, at least that's how Zack Snyder envisioned it. But not even the producers at Disney are crazy enough to agree to this. Even on paper, this work must have looked like a terrible stew.
But the heads at Netflix have shown many times that they don't mind throwing money away on nonsense, so they eventually agreed to Zack Snyder's offer.