‘Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver’ Review: Zack Snyder’s Sequel

wheat. Lots of wheat.

That’s the main idea of ​​the sequel to director Zack Snyder’s interplanetary space saga, which, depending on your point of view, either pays tribute to or shamelessly rips off previous sagas that range from Seven samurai to star Wars. If you add up the running times for both Rebel Moon – Part Two: Al-Skarji The first film is more than four hours long. Not surprising, considering that this film features a sequence in which characters harvest wheat for what seems longer than a Swedish art film. I know the place is supposed to be an alternate universe, but considering it has starships and technologically advanced weapons, it seems a bit silly that agriculture hasn’t advanced beyond scythes. Although very good performers seem to be very good at using it.

Such reflections are unavoidable when faced with this potential saga, which continues the story of a group of farmers living on the moon of the Veldt who are threatened with extinction by the imperialist mother world. Their military force, the Imperials, is led by Darth Vader and, sorry, Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein), who wakes up understandably cranky after a near-death experience in the previous film.

Meanwhile, the farmers are organized into a fighting force by Luke Skywalker, sorry, Korra (Sofia Boutella), who has assembled a mercenary team that includes cyborg-like warriors, a lightsaber-wielding Nemesis (Donna Bae), and a perpetually shirtless Tarak (Staz January). ), mega-farmer Gunnar (Michiel Huismann) and former Imperial general Titus (Djimon Hounsou). There’s also a very obvious droid, C-3PO (I mean, Jimmy), voiced by Anthony Hopkins, who gives the best performance in the film without even having to appear on set.

If you thought the previous part was just build-up, you may be distressed to learn that the follow-up is… a lot of build-up. Although this time the pace of events is a bit faster and leads to an extended battle sequence that encompasses almost the second half of the film. However, it’s hard to tell, since Snyder uses so many of his trademark slow motions that it feels like the film would fall short if it ran at normal speed.

This extended build-up includes a lengthy ceremony in which awards are presented to various heroic figures. (It’s hard to blame Snyder and co-screenwriters Kurt Johnstad and Shay Hatten for this, since it’s highly unlikely the movie itself gets any.) There’s also an extended scene in which Titus orders his fellow warriors to give their backstories, presented in the form of flashbacks Which sounds like the cinematic equivalent of speed dating.

The first film was heavily criticized for its lack of memorable dialogue, plot elements, or characters, and this film does little to improve on those aspects unless you consider Titus singing a sad lament before going into battle as a plus (Hunsou does. You have a surprisingly beautiful voice). . None of the actors can be blamed, as they display an impressive commitment to their physically demanding roles, with many of them displaying the kind of toned muscular physique that the mere mortals among us could only dream of. Boutella and Skrein are particularly notable in this regard, especially as shown in the fist-fight scene, which takes place on an out-of-control spaceship, and seems to go on for hours (I’m not sure about that). It actually doesn’t).

Extended battle scenes with her Rebellious moon The conclusions prove to be undeniably impressive, which is all the better because they’re the film’s raison d’être. Snyder gives an expansive display of the visual flair and skill in action that has endeared him to legions of fans who show so much dedication that they are willing to watch multiple versions of his films. As is the case with those two films, Snyder has announced that he will soon be offering R-rated director’s cuts that run approximately three hours each. Which makes one wonder: Why bother watching these versions that clearly don’t have his full endorsement?