The rebel warriors gear up for battle against the ruthless forces of the Motherworld as unbreakable bonds are forged, heroes emerge — and legends are made. I feel an obligation to preface this review by saying that Zack Snyder is one of my favorite filmmakers of all time and a huge inspiration to me. I love Watchmen, 300, Dawn of the Dead, and will always defend his Justice League trilogy. I have been one of the most outspoken proponents of the #restorethesnyderverse movement and will always advocate for his DC vision to be continued and ultimately completed. As for the first Rebel Moon film, I was in the minority that actually liked it despite its messiness and noticeably missing scenes. That being said, it clearly was a mistake to release the watered down PG-13 version initially, especially since it was an only Netflix release. They’re saying there is going to be a director’s cut, but why not just release that version in the first place? I don’t get why almost every Zack Snyder movie gets chopped up by WB or whichever studio he works with. This issue is very much the case with its sequel, with the only real difference being that this movie is unfortunately not very good at all. In fact, it makes the first movie feel pointless as a result. The first Rebel Moon introduced a very intriguing world inspired by Star Wars, Dune, Seven Samurai, and other sci-fi space opera franchises mashed together with a heavy metal aesthetic. It was derivative to be sure and tried be super edgy, but I personally really dug the world in which Snyder set up.
Before I get into my negatives, I will talk about my few positives. On a technical level, the movie looks visually gorgeous, with some genuinely dazzling shot compositions, particularly of outer space and the landscapes of planet Veldt. Anthony Hopkins is just delightful as Jimmy the robot. He gets one really badass scene in particular taking down a brigade of Imperium forces and I only wish we got to see more of him. The casting itself is quite solid and everyone fits their roles almost perfectly. Tom Holkenborg once again cranks out an epic soundtrack and there are a few half decent action scenes in the third act, even if I had zero investment in what was happening. Okay, here we go. I cannot for the life of me tell you what went on in this movie. I had absolutely no idea what was going on, whether it’s Anthony Hopkins dumping convoluted exposition or the other forgettable characters explaining their generic backstories. The entire first hour of this movie is genuinely so confusing, with zero sense of pacing. The bad guy Atticus Noble played by Ed Skrein locates the rebels on the planet Veldt at the beginning of the movie and sets his space ship on a course for the planet. Meanwhile, we are treated to a monotonous round table of the rebels talking about their history and individual motives. There is zero sense of urgency and I did not care about a single character. Kora played by Sophia Boutella strikes up a romance with Michiel Huisman’s Gunnar and I never felt any chemistry nor did I buy their forced love story.
The only human character I had any sort of slight connection to was Djimon Hounsou’s General Titus, who gets somewhat of an interesting backstory, although it’s barely explored beyond some brief flashbacks and exposition. There are so many truly unintentionally hilarious moments from the abysmal dialogue alone, and I found myself laughing several times at just how preposterous, inane, and predictable some of the lines were. Some of the dialogue and attempts at hitting emotional beats fall so flat that it makes the Martha moment from Batman v Superman look like a stroke of genius. Zack, I love you, but your writing here was almost as bad as mine. So the first hour is just a lot of waiting around and characters going on monologues explaining their backstories, but does this monotony end up turning into an exciting second half? The answer is a resounding no. Because I did not care about a single character, all of the bombastic, sci-fi action with laser, guns and laser swords in the second half that in concept seems awesome, was merely visual noise.
All of this begs the question, will the proposed rated R 6 hour director’s cut that bridges both Part One and Two together be a superior version? Probably, but like I said before, I don’t know what Netflix was thinking when they decided to release both of these movies without Snyder’s full vision for it. Maybe it wouldn’t turn into a great movie but at least it would be the true version. It really pains me to say that Rebel Moon Part II is my least favorite Zack Snyder film. As a massive fan of the director, as someone who will always love him, his work, and what it means to me and millions of others worldwide, I have to be constructive as a critic and call it like it is. Where does the franchise go from here in my opinion? I personally believe that if this director’s cut is not a hit, then it’s time for Snyder to scrap the whole thing and work on something else. Sequel to the Justice League Snyder Cut, maybe? The man is incredibly talented with a bonkers imagination, but if this movie proves anything, it’s that Snyder is at his best when it comes to being behind the camera, and not penning the script. Overall, with brutal pacing, lazy storytelling, unintentionally hilarious dialogue, and not a single character to latch onto, Rebel Moon Part II - The Scargiver is a crushing disappointment that not even Zack Snyder’s stunning visuals and slo-mo action sequences can save.
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