Rebel Moon

Coming out at the tail end of last year armed with a big budget, lots of fanfare and a sizable cast is Rebel Moon. With a sequel due this April and a directors cut of the first film due at some point, I thought I would visit Zack Snyder’s (Army Of The Dead) fantasy, sci-fi epic. The plot is made up of bits from several other films sewn together with a generous helping of clichés. The peaceful farming community Veldt find themselves under threat from the empire Motherworld, who rule the universe and are hunting down and quashing any signs of resistance in it. To help them do this they order the farming community to give over their grain to feed their army, or face being squashed like a grape. 

Villager and one time soldier Kora (Sofia Boutella) sees one injustice too many and decides to take action. She travels the universe in search of the rebels the empire the Motherworld are trying to stop, to try and protect her home and fight the forces of evil. The roguish Han Solo clone Kai (Charlie Hunnam) helps her recruit the various, video game like archetypes for her team. Amongst the plucky renegades are Titus (Djimon Hounsou), a former Motherworld general who fell from grace. Tarak, a blacksmith with control over animals. Darrian Bloodaxe, a warrior and member of a band of freedom fighters and Nemesis – who has a talent for swordplay.  

The film certainly looks spectacular, with great special effects, lots of Snyder Slow mo and sweeping vistas of space and alien lands. Where the film really falls down is everywhere else. The story is derivative, and it plays out like many many other flicks you have seen – from the obvious Star Wars space opera element, fantasy bits from Dune and Guardians of the Galaxy team building and big, surprisingly boring, fight scenes. And like many superhero films they are against some histrionic and hammed up villains. But hey, at least Anthony Hopkins is in it. 

In the end you are left with a film whose beauty is only skin deep, as behind the shiny visuals is a hokey film with a derivative plot, forgettable characters and an over reliance on CGI. In case you had to ask, yes this is on Netflix. 

4/10