Reload your slag weapons and hide your crops. It’s time to save Veldt from the Motherworld.
Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver stars Sofia Boutella as Kora/Arthelais, Djimon Hounsou as Titus, Michiel Huisman as Gunnar, Staz Nair as Prince Tarak, Doona Bae as Nemesis, Anthony Hopkins as Jimmy, Cleopatra Coleman as Devra Bloodaxe, E. Duffy as Milius, and Ed Skrein as Atticus Noble.
This movie is like Attack of The Clones if it was only two hours of the Battle of Geonosis. Okay, the movie is not only a giant battle; there are also 20 minutes of slo-mo grain harvesting. The setting of Veldt is where we find one of the film’s biggest flaws.
The first movie was a galaxy-traveling adventure with small fights spread throughout, much like Fellowship of The Ring. This movie has only a little bit of set-up, filled with a smattering of character backstories, that is then followed by a sometimes cool but also isolated, long, and meandering battle, just like Battle of The Five Armies.
Neither of these Rebel Moon films are of the same quality as the space operas that inspired Zach Snyder. Once you start viewing these films as one long movie, they feel more derivative than a fun respin. Like The Force Awakens, the Rebel Moon movies feel like a tweaked remake.
If there were one specific sci-fi property that I now think had as much influence on Rebel Moon as Star Wars did, it would have to be Dune. I hadn’t seen either of the new Dune films before watching the first Rebel Moon, but after seeing Dune: Part One, I realized that the similarities are downright libelous. I saw the old Dune almost 10 years back, but the story details weren’t very fresh in my memory when I saw Rebel Moon Part One.
The Motherworld is just like the Empire and Harkonnens. Both movies have evil emperors, and Atticus Noble fills the same role as Feyd-Rautha. I think hardcore Dune fans should probably avoid this movie unless they’ve consumed some Delta-8 and are zoned out to the point where they don’t care that they’ve been robbed.
I do want a spin-off for the character of Prince Tarak. He starts as a prince who lived an excellent, lavish life until the Motherworld took that from him. Therein lies the potential for an exciting story.
I would be interested in a spin-off movie or a miniseries about the years between him having to leave his planet and adjust to life as a fugitive to when we meet him in the first Rebel Moon. It’d be a fish-out-of-water story that could bring more love to the character. Plus, c’mon, there’d be interest anyway because Staz Nair looks like a Renaissance painting.
He’s effing beautiful, and I have no shame saying that. I hope I have abs that are that chiseled someday.
I think that Rebel Moon could’ve been a phenomenon. It could’ve been Netflix’s flagship sci-fi film series, but instead, it’s just kind of existing amongst the rest of Netflix’s original movies that all end up fading from public consciousness. This is too bad when you consider the film’s talented cast and the effort that went into getting these movies made.
6/10
Advent Seven 
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