Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam, Anthony Hopkins
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 134 mins

Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is the latest by visionary director Zack Snyder, and is based on a concept he repeatedly pitched to various studios over the years. After strong success with the excellent Army of the Dead, Netflix had confidence in the filmmaker and gave him the green light.  

Set on the fictional galaxy ruled by the imperialistic Motherworld, a farming colon on the moon of Veldt are threatened. Kora (Sofia Boutella), a former Imperium soldier heads on a quest to recruit warriors from across the galaxy to rise up against the Imperium. If you think that sounds just a little like Star Wars, you wouldn’t be wrong. Snyder says he was inspired by Star Wars, the works of Akira Kurosawa and Heavy Metal magazines. 

Not a filmmaker associated with brevity, Netflix grew concerned in post-production that the film would underperform due to its unwieldy length. Snyder then decided to split the film into two parts (Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver will release in April 2024). It also became apparent Snyder’s vision was going to be R-rated and Netflix unconventionally decided it would release a younger audience-friendly cut, with an R-rated cut to follow down the line. 

Many will remember the debacle that was Justice League, where Snyder’s interpretation of the material was butchered with. After riotous demand, the superior Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released and the two films couldn’t have been any more different. Netflix’s strategy of releasing two separate cuts is deeply reminiscent of Snyder’s previous experience and one has to wonder how different the director’s cut will be from what we have here. 

Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire starts off promisingly as we are introduced to the citizens of Veldt and how they are tormented by the sinister Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein). Unfortunately, the rest of the film doesn’t live up to the strong beginning and gets bogged down in uninteresting, derivative lore as we go through the motions of Kora assembling a ragtag team. Strangely for a Snyder film, it’s not even particularly visually accomplished and the film is murkily shot. It almost feels as if Snyder is trying to shake his trademark visuals, given it’s 45 minutes before we get the first slow motion sequence. Even the score by the always-reliable Junkie XL is strangely uninspired.

The performances are also quite hokey. Sofia Boutella has proven she can be great, for example in Kingsman: The Secret Service or Prisoners of the Ghostland but she is very wooden here and has no charisma. Charlie Hunnam puts on a particularly unconvincing Northern Irish accent and even Djimon Hounsou isn’t given much to do. The cast member that fares best is Ed Skrein’s sinister villain and I’m looking forward to seeing the development of his character in the sequel. 

Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is sadly mostly a misfire in this more family-friendly format and Snyder’s worst film. There are certainly hints at a more mature and edgier film, though, and it’ll be interesting to see just how different Snyder’s cut will be. For a more thought-provoking sci-fi, although flawed, check out The Creator.

⭐⭐ (Poor)