Shot by Shot Reviews of Film and TV

Nonsense can be fun. Real fun. Because nonsense can be amusing. But there is a difference between nonsense and making no sense. The latter can be and is usually frustrating, which is not very amusing. And that is what Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire, the PG 13 cut, is, and I suppose it was destined to be. I go into any film with a solitary hope or expectation – tickle me or touch me or nudge me or shove me, but don’t bore me. And I have learnt that with Zack Snyder even that may be hoping for too much. He has the tools at his disposal. 2013’s Man of Steel is proof of that. I enjoyed that film, in part probably because it did not have a single slow motion sequence to slow down the narrative. And the section in that film that stood out for me? The segment in the beginning on Krypton. It was a fresh take from the land of ice I knew and loved from Richard Donner’s 1978 Superman. Here in Man of Steel, it was transformed into a living alien world with an intricate social structure explained economically and effectively. The melding of scifi and fantasy was fresh and thrilling. There are moments in it that still resonate for me to this very day. That is what I seek out in the cinema.

Snyder had served that segment well, so I suppose I can’t be blamed for having some expectations when it came to Rebel Moon, which after all was sold as an entire saga of… more of that! But now, having sat through it, I can tell you, Rebel Moon has none of that. There isn’t a single moment in this film that even comes close to the intensity of that scene.

Of course, common sense would have reminded me of his other films, namely 300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch, Batman vs Superman, Justice League, Army of the Dead, each of which were hostage to the same curse. A filmmaker in love with images. Not in movement, or montage or most of all storytelling. The evidence of that is clear on many instances in every one of these films, where, without purpose to the scene, the story, or the character, shot inexplicably slows down to near stillness, usually in the middle of a leap, or a furling of a cape, as though to say, ‘did you see that?’, only to then speed back up again, and resume as though nothing had happened. And he repeats this so often that it deserves an adjective, like Felliniesque, or Kubrickesque, or Spielbergesque. If there isn’t one out there already, let me coin it here and now, Snyderesque.

Everything about Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire, the PG 13 cut, is Snyderesque, almost to the point of spoof. The fact that a very poor theatrical cut exists along with an inevitable better extended cut that fills in many of the plot holes and nonsensical jump cuts (which is more a result of weak structuring of the script than cuts). The episodic nature of scenes apparently disjointed from a narrative, which makes one’s mind wander. There were points in the viewing of the film where I am genuinely not sure whether I dozed off momentarily, or the scene transitions were just so jarring that it left me lost with that uncanny sense of a missing bridge. Getting back to the Snyderesque. The picture being drained of most colour leaving it drab for no real reason, considering the subject matter of this film is a grand space opera on exotic planets with a variety of alien creatures. The fact that most if not all characters can be summed up in fewer than five words with little to no dimension to them, i.e., he was a general. He is a farmer. She has two swords. He doesn’t like shirts. I could go on with the Snyderesque, but it’s taking this review into a rant and that is not the purpose of my reviews. I want the movies I watch to make me feel something in the span of two or three hours. That is the reason I’m paying the price of admission. After all, if I just wanted to see pretty people or images I could find that for free on social media. They may make me smile, but they don’t make me feel anything. That is the function of art.

Many who have watched Rebel Moon are pointing out the lack of originality in this supposedly original intellectual property, but I can be lenient when it comes to that area because what came before leaves an indelible impression on every single artist. Every piece of art carries thousands of years of art in its dna, that is inescapable, some showing aspects more pronounced, some weaving them beneath the surface. Similarly, every great film has been influenced by other films and paintings and books. It is not a crime in my eyes that Rebel Moon prominently carries the influences of Seven Samurai in its story or Anime in its costumes and art design. My problem with it is that, despite using these remarkable works as blueprints to work from, so much so that five minutes into the film they show through with the subtlety of a hammer striking an anvil, the result was still so ineffectual.

The extended R-rated cut that has been announced may turn out to be ten times better, seemingly totally redeeming the film, but that does not change the fact that the film was originally released in this current 2 hr and 13 minute form. It shows all the hallmarks of something done with a lot of money poured into it in a hurry, spending far too little of the one thing that truly matters – thought. I can say that because I did not come away from this film with a solitary thing I value. Not a single image lingers in my mind, not a line of dialogue, a piece of acting, or design, or a phrase of music. And that is 2023’s Rebel Moon part One : A Child of Fire, the PG 13 cut. I hope you will watch it and share your thoughts with me.