Rebel Moon Part One Spoiler Review: Seven Samurai Weds Star Wars

Zack Snyder's latest movie is a half-cooked Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven story set on the backdrop of Star Wars. The movie is average and doesn't provide any fresh story or visually stunning experience.

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Director: Zack Snyder

Starring: Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam, Anthony Hopkins, and many more.

Release Date: December 22, 2023

Runtime: 2 hours 13 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Overview:

Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire is the first installment of a two-part space opera directed by Zack Snyder. The film follows the story of Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious woman living on the moon of Veldt, who must defend her village from the invading forces of the tyrannical Motherworld. To do so, she assembles a team of warriors.

Full Plot Of Rebel Moon Part One (Spoiler Ahead):

In a far-off galaxy, the Motherworld empire thrives on centuries of conquest and war. The royal family, weary of conflict, hopes that Princess Issa, gifted with healing and resurrection, will bring unity through compassion rather than force. However, during her coronation, Issa and her parents are assassinated by Senator Balisarius, who declares himself Regent and renews the empire's conquests with Admiral Atticus Noble's support.

On Veldt, an independent moon, Noble demands grain from Father Sindri, the village chief. An ambitious farmer named Gunnar disagrees with Sindri's refusal to provide food. Noble kills the chief. Gunnar is left to prepare the grain and supply all of their stock along with the villagers. Kora, a former Imperium soldier, reveals her past and helps a woman from being r*ped by Imperium soldiers.

Kora and Gunnar gather a band of warriors, including smuggler Kai, beast tamer Tarak, and swordswoman Nemesis, to defend Veldt. Kora recruits disgraced Imperium commander Titus from a remote moon named Pollak. She confides in Gunnar about her guilt for Princess Issa's death, having once served as her bodyguard. She was also the adopted daughter of Senator Balisarius and once an Imperial Soldier named Arthelais.

Unable to defend against Noble's ship, the King's Gaze, the warriors seek help from Clan Bloodaxe, run by siblings Darrian and Devra. Darrian and half the clan agree to assist with their starfighters, while Devra, considering the fight hopeless, retreats with the other half.

Ending Of Rebel Moon Part One

Kora and her team, including Gunnar, Tarak, Kai, Nemesis, General Titus, Bloodaxe, and Millius, along with a small army of warriors, head to Gondival. Kai reveals a treacherous plan to sell them out for his gain, leading to the arrival of Admiral Noble and the Imperium warriors. Gunnar is able to free Kora and others and kills Kai in the process, and an explosive battle ensues.

During the fight, Bloodaxe Darrian sacrifices himself, and their aircraft crashes, separating Kora and Noble for a one-on-one battle. Kora manages to attack Noble with his cane, seemingly causing his death. The surviving warriors, Kora, Gunnar, Tarak, Nemesis, General Titus, and Millius return to Veldt, where they are temporarily free from the Imperium's control. In the distance, they spot Jimmy wearing a makeshift crown, hinting at a new role for him. Meanwhile, Noble is revived aboard the Imperium Dreadnought, The King's Gaze, and his mind is transported to a frozen lake where he meets Regent Balisarius. Balisarius reprimands Noble for failing to stop the rebellion and orders him to find Kora.

Our Verdict:

Rebel Moon is a pure manifestation of Zack Snyder's unique directorial style. It has all the trades of Zack Snyder, including the Slow Mo action sequence with lots of multiple cuts and close-up shots. The movie's storyline is familiar to the audience. As previously stated by the Director, he has taken inspiration from Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Magnificent Seven. Similar to these movies, here, the protagonist, Kora, assembled a team to fight against the powerful Motherland. Also, the movie set pieces and various concepts are the same as the Star Wars franchise.

The movie lacks an emotion connection with the characters, and it is hard to root for all the characters involved as you know very little of the background and the whole set-up. At the start, the visual effects and CGI are good, but during the mid-portion and the ending battle scene, it looks very average.

There are some good action scenes in the movie, including the fight between Nemesis and Harmada and some of the slo-mo action sequences. The story is quite predictable; the only twist in the movie is at the end, where Kai betrays Kora and the team, but you can also guess far ahead in the movie that it's coming.

The performance in the movie could be better; for example, movie protagonist Kora, played by Sofia Boutella, falls flat in emotional scenes. Actors like Charlie Hunnam's talent is also wasted in the movie as his Han Solo-inspired character needs more to do in the movie. The villain(played by Ed Skrein) part is also one-dimensional, similar to various Marvel villains. The only character who has an arc in the movie is Gunnar, a character portrayed badly by Michiel Huisman.

The movie could have taken longer to develop all the character arcs. But the movie has a director's cut, which will be released soon, which can explore more on all the characters.

Update On the Second Part

As the first part of a planned series, Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire sets the stage for further exploration of its universe. The film concludes with a cliffhanger, leaving viewers to anticipate the next installment, Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver, which is scheduled for release in April 2024.