After parting ways with DC, writer/director Zack Snyder (Dawn Of The Dead) is now ready to create his own on-screen universe. Backed up by Netflix, he sets out on a grand endeavour to create an epic space cinematic adventure, starting with the first part, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire. While Part Two – The Scargiver has already been filmed and put on the 2024 film release slate, it remains to be seen whether the third part will ever see the light of day as the first instalment is an uninspiring and messy movie.
If A Child of Fire feels familiar to you, you’re not the only one. You could easily mistake it for a remake of Battle Beyond the Stars of The Magnificent Seven or a cheap knockoff of Dune or Star Wars. Not only story-wise but also visually. We’ve seen those close-ups of floating spaceships and planets way too many times. While some CGI, special effects, and set designs look decently, many feel semi-finished or rushed. You instantly wonder where Snyder and his team spend that estimated $90,000,000 budget on.
It certainly wasn’t on creating an exciting beginning because, like many sci-fi movies, this feature opens with a voice-over (in this case, one provided by Anthony Hopkins), which tells you everything you need to know. The story takes you to Veldt, a farming planet where we meet our main hero, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a former senior officer laying low on Veldt ever since the beginning of the war, and her fellow farmers. Despite their resources becoming scarce, the inhabitants of Veldt keep their spirits up high. However, when the ruthless Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) demands a large cut of their harvest, something they can’t spare, it might mean the end of their peaceful moon.
The too-naïve people from Veldt think they can negotiate with Noble, but they soon learn that you can’t make a deal with a tyrant. When Noble, his power-hungry boss/regent Balisarius (Fra Free) and their corrupt government of the Motherworld start to threaten Veldt even more, Kora tasks herself and her friend Gunnar (Michiel Huisman) with recruiting a team of mighty space warriors to protect their precious planet. The planet-hopping trip takes them to Titus (Djimon Hounsou), a former fearless general turned freedom fighter, the cyber swordswoman Nemesis (Bae Doona), slave Tarak (Staz Nair) who can bond with animals like no one else, bounty hunter/smuggler/starship pilot Kai (Charlie Hunnam) and the leader of the rebellion Darrian Bloodaxe (Ray Fisher).
A story about a team of strong warriors coming together sounds good on paper, but in the case of A Child of Fire, it doesn’t look good on-screen. Snyder and co-writers Kurt Johnstad (300) and Shay Hatten (John Wick: Chapter 4) their messy script is cramped with way too many, cliched characters, of whom many are replaceable and unnecessary, and flat and lifeless dialogues. We only know a little about the characters’ background stories and what drives them; therefore, it’s hard to connect with them. If Snyder and his team had only focussed on the main characters, such as Kora and Noble, and if they had given them much more depth, feelings and personality, A Child of Fire would have been much more intriguing and original.
That’s also mainly because we would see more of the stand-out performances by both Boutella and Skrein. Apart from them, no actor or actress can bring the sloppy and shallow screenplay to life. Boutella always shines in physically demanding roles (think of her movies such as Climax and Atomic Blonde); this time, it’s no different. At first, we see the more emotional side of Kora, which Snyder doesn’t explore enough in this movie, but once the fight for Veldt begins, we see the first-class Boutella. The fierceness, determination, and power she oozes spat off the screen, and so does Skrein’s evilness as Noble. Skrein (Midway), who’s sporting a Peaky Blinders haircut in space, is a great evil incarnate of the brutal Admiral who wants to destroy every planet and its people.
The end fight between Boutella and Skrein is undoubtedly one of the best moments in this movie because the fight choreography is incredibly on-point and because both actors accept the physical challenge of this movie with both hands. However, only some battle and fight scenes hit the marks. Yes, slow-motion action certainly is Snyder’s signature, but that effect is overused in this feature, so it loses its effect entirely. On top of that, the music during the fight scenes is too overpowering and takes the spotlight away from all the action on-screen, which is what you don’t want if your script mainly consists of fights and battles. Many action-packed scenes, such as the one involving the immense spider, and the film could have benefited from much tighter editing.
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is a film that doesn’t live up to its potential. You have the A-list names both in front and behind the camera, the big budget and the necessary creativity, but instead of becoming an excellent sci-fi spectacle, the movie turns out to be a mishmash of unoriginality, underdeveloped characters, excessive action and almost no surprises.
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is out now in selected cinemas and will be available on Netflix from the 22nd of December
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire is a film that doesn't live up to its potential. You have the A-list names both in front and behind the camera, the big budget and the necessary creativity, but instead of becoming an excellent sci-fi spectacle, the movie turns out to be a mishmash of unoriginality, underdeveloped characters, excessive action and almost no surprises.
-
GVN Rating
Subtitle translator by day. Film journalist by night.
