Before the release of Rebel Moon – Part 2: The Scarmaker, Zack Snyder promised that the sequel would fulfill the potential of Part 1. Rebel Moon – Part 1: Child of Fire is said to have only been the (excessively long) prelude and the emotional basis for a huge battle that would now consist of Part 2.
It takes another hour until the endless showdown in the new Netflix blockbuster occurs. And that is the most miserable thing Snyder has ever made.
The first half of Rebel Moon 2 consists of standstill and harvest fetish
In the sequel, Kora (Sofia Boutella) and her small army must prepare for an attack by the all-powerful fleet of the tyrant Balisarius (Fra Fee), which is led by the believed dead Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein). But it’s not just the main characters who face an agonizing wait in the second Rebel Moon part.
Snyder allows himself a solid hour before the big battle takes place, which is then rolled out in the most excessive Man of Steel style. Until then, the story of Rebel Moon 2 stands still. We should sympathize with characters we relate to There was hardly any emotional connection in the predecessor were able to build. The individual characters that Kora quickly collected from planet to planet for her team remained too template-like and rushed.
The first hour of the Netflix film is not just a tiring total failure in terms of drama. Snyder also apparently wanted to emphasize in every free scene the importance of the grain grown on the moon Veldt, which is the reason for the evil invasion.
As a result, Rebel Moon – Part 2: The Scar Maker often mutates into a harvest fetish orgy, through which the director shows for what feels like the hundredth time (in ultra slow motion) how the grain is sown and, above all, harvested with sweaty movements. Snyder’s distinctive style finally degenerates into a ridiculous self-parody, with which he personally delivers the meme template for his often ridiculed over-staging. But the absolute low point of Rebel Moon 2 is yet to come.
The “Last Supper” passage in Rebel Moon 2 is a declaration of artistic bankruptcy
Shortly before the final battle begins in Snyder’s Rebel Moon sequel, the story takes on biblical proportions. All members of Kora’s troop gather at a table with the leader to briefly talk about their individual motives for taking part in the fight against the Empire. It is certainly not a coincidence that the sequence’s design is reminiscent of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ and his twelve apostles.
Netflix
The “Last Supper” in Rebel Moon – Part 2: The Scar Maker
Narratively, however, the passage is a total declaration of bankruptcy. After Snyder failed to work out the respective motivations of the most important characters in the first Rebel Moon part, we are given the Character traits now in a hurry on a clumsy silver platter thrown down.
While the stars have to recite lines from the script, the director throws in flashback scenes that don’t leave a lasting impression. Again, it’s just small scraps that seem slapped on to finally lead to the big battle. Storytelling and character drawing are two terms in this section that Synder distorts beyond recognition.
By then I have it Almost completely lost my mind while watching Rebel Moon 2. And I’m writing this as a Zack Snyder fan who has always defended his expansive audiovisual style. The director has never been a gifted storyteller, but rather a wild iconoclast.
The first half of Rebel Moon 2 can be imagined as a chain reaction in which Snyder stumbles over his own handwriting and falls on a script, thereby shattering the skull of the underlying film.
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