Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire

I’m constantly struggling over the concept of the word “original”. If you or I drew a picture of the Pietà, would you then be upset if people said the drawing wasn’t original? I mean, you are the one who drew the picture, right? It’s the same kind of problem I have with commercials that say their product is free for $10 shipping.

In the world of movies, I run hot and cold on the ideas of “original”, or, “inspired by”, or, “homage”. If the filmmaker doesn’t try to own the original image, concept or plot and they do something clever with the new usage, fine. Rebel Moon is touted as an “original” by Zack Snyder, not based on an anime or comic or web series. I learned this after I had watched the film while writing in my notes: Star Wars cantina, Firefly battle and imagery, Matrix, Borg Queen, Vietnam era “daisy” commercial, “everyone dirty, sweaty and in colorless clothes like The Walking Dead”.

Kora (Sofia Boutella) is satisfied with her quiet life on a habitable moon. She farms by day then goes to the communal dinner where the “father” exhorts his people to go and f*** (complete with hand gestures) to ensure a good harvest. Then the bad guys show up in their super large space ship and demand, in the name of the emperor, to give them all the crops when they’re harvested. Chaos. Sexual assault. Bloodshed and violence. Kora goes off to get the band together, looking for the baddest of the baddest asses in the universe to stage a wee revolution.

Along the way, Kora stars in many backstory cut scenes in her searche for good bad guys to fight with her. She’s subtle as a rock to the head, but I guess that’s supposed to be part of her charm. She meets a lot of non-terran people and stops at a lot of places in the vasty vast of space. The people are beautifully done, with great cgi that we only wish the Star Wars cantina could have employed, and with a mind to the fact that just like humans some people are evil and some people aren’t. The many different places, with many different trades and environments, all looked vaguely similar to each other.

For the plot there are a few old and worn concepts, like a space faring society that has plenty of people hand scrabbling for crops and hunting for meat. I’ll give him a pass on that, because I’ve liked that particular blend of science fiction since the 1980s. Or, the story of a waif escaping horrors and brought up not knowing who they actually are until greatness is thrust upon them. I’ll also give Snyder a pass on the unoriginal aspects of his original plot, because coming up with something entirely new is nearly impossible.

There is a sense of impending doom and barbarity nearly every moment that made me more uncomfortable than anticipatory. I’m not sure why I felt that way. Maybe it’s knowing how nasty the setup would have to be to justify good guy violence.  Still, it’s the mood and message the writer wanted to impart and it worked on me. Fight choreography is good, with an actress that sells the fights well. There is some nice diversity, not just among the non-terrans.

This is nowhere near a bad film. The actors are fine, and the look of the film. If you like science fiction you won’t hate this. My biggest complaint is that there is precious little originality in this original film. Part two is coming in a couple of months, and of course I’ll watch it. Even knowing going in how it ends, I’ll probably enjoy the ride.

LINKS:

• Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire – Tudum
• Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire – IMDB

CFR: In Addition

Well. Ok. I’m glad Cranky C reviewed this cause I had been thinking about it.

First: I’m a Zach Snyder fan. When he gets it right, it is so right! Long live 300, Sucker Punch, the Extended Batman vs. Superman, and the masterpiece that is his version of Justice League – be still my beating heart! I believe, along with others, that his true strength is his visual sense. Plus, he likes/loves butt kicking women and he hates women haters. We would get along.

However, alas, sometimes his storytelling just isn’t there. And that is true of Rebel Moon. Now I enjoyed it but it was just ok.

Now there were moments I LOVED. I loved how it went from Star Wars to Seven Samurai. When Kai surprised me at the end – oh cool. When I realized the Seven Samurai story line was being introduced (SQUEE!). Recognizing Bae Doona and Nemesis! Those squee moments made me so very happy and I think they are parts of all Snyder movies that I like.

Now, I gotta talk about a trope that is not just in this movie but in so many. The lone fighter comes in and defeats everyone in hand to hand. Uh, that doesn’t work with me. I mean, I’ll buy it for a story. Sure. It’s fun! But let’s face it: A blaster can kills a Jedi cause projectiles are so cool. Plus, our heroine has great skills! But pound for pound, I could see her being overpowered by that alone. Still fun to watch her kick butt.

I am looking forward to part two and I hope I love it. Because I want to.