Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver
The second installment of Zack Snyder's space opera is much better than many would lead you to believe.
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A lot of folks just hate on something simply because Zack Snyder’s name is on it. I like Akira Kurosawa's “Seven Samurai” and Antoine Fuqua’s “The Magnificent Seven” and I outright love John Sturges’ “The Magnificent Seven.” I like Snyder’s “Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver” too.
Sure, Snyder took four hours and 18 minutes to tell his space-set spin on “Seven Samurai” (by comparison to Kurosawa’s three hours and 27 minutes) between “Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire” and this. And sure, liberally, it’s safe to assume that at least 50 percent of these two pictures’ runtimes is accounted for by slo-mo. (An appropriate alternate title for “The Scargiver” could be “Slo-mo Space Grain Cultivation.”) But despite its excessive length as a whole (this really would’ve played better as one three hour and 27 minute movie) and its dearth of new ideas (but not new images – there’s a concluding sword/lightsaber fight that’s gotta be seen to be believed), “The Scargiver” is a dumb, fun slab of sci-fi that betters “A Child of Fire.” Arguably, not a very high bar … even though I liked that widely disliked flick better than most.
“The Scargiver” picks up right where “A Child of Fire” left off. Freedom fighter Kora (Sofia Boutella) vanquished fascist f*ck Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) only to have him reanimated by the Nazi-esque Imperium.
The revived Noble intends to attack the farming community of Veldt, so it’s up to Kora and her fellow warriors – brave Veldt native Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), the honorable yet disgraced General Titus (Djimon Hounsou), royal-blooded rabble-rouser Tarak (Staz Nair), robotics-assisted swordswoman Nemesis (Doona Bae) and fellow displaced villager Milius (E. Duffy) – to train and protect the people of Veldt.
The first hour of this movie and the entirety of its predecessor were buildup to battle. The second hour of this movie is nonstop war of the space variety and it’s quite the sight to see. In the way Snyder and his co-writers Shay Hatten and Kurt Johnstad wrote and the way the actors play these combatants you actually give a damn about what happens to them. There’s a sequence in which comely, young villager Sam (Charlotte Maggi) gifts each of the soldiers a banner representative of their character that I found to be surprisingly moving.
Snyder’s first three films remain his best (“Dawn of the Dead” (2004), “300” and “Watchmen”), but he’s still a visualist par excellence. Despite this installment’s issues (as well as its predecessor’s) I’m still willing to check out any rumored director’s cuts or further entries to the series. I’m not some #releasethesnydercut stan, but I’d also argue he doesn’t deserve anywhere near the amount of critical vitriol hurled his way.