The Big Picture

Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire struggles to establish its own identity and lacks originality. The visuals and special effects in Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire are impressive, showcasing Zack Snyder’s talent for creating iconic moments. The film lacks strong worldbuilding and character development, leaving viewers wanting to know more about the planets and the characters.

For a film that originally was thought of as a subversion of the Star Wars franchise, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire feels pretty similar to an installment of it. From a lightsaber-like weapon to the narration at the beginning that feels a lot like the opening crawl, it struggles to create its own identity. The worst part is the material has plenty of potential that goes unrealized.

Conceived by Zack Snyder over more than a decade, Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire centers around Kora (Sofia Boutella), a soldier who is relatively content with the life she found for herself amongst the people who live and work in the farming moon of planet Veldt. She used to do dirty work for the Imperium, a ruthless entity that goes around planets subjugating inhabitants to do their bidding. When they finally come to her new home, Kora decides she has no choice but to form a plan to take them on.

Rebel Moon When a peaceful settlement on the edge of a distant moon finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, a mysterious stranger living among its villagers becomes their best hope for survival. Release Date December 22, 2023 Director Zack Snyder Studio Netflix

As fans of Snyder will know, there’s nothing inherently wrong with Rebel Moon, especially when it comes to its visuals. The director has proven time and time again that he knows how to craft an iconic moment. This time, his prowess for doing that is shown right in the early moments of the movie. The first arrival of the enemy ship in Veldt is right up there with how the filmmaker structured the death of the Waynes in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. The trouble comes in the rest of the film to follow.

‘Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire’ Is at War With Itself

When we finally start to get a sense of who Kora is and what moves her, it’s heist movie time and the warrior proceeds to recruit members that we end up not knowing much about except for the weapons they carry. There are some surprises here and there when it comes to their attitudes, but it’s all rather run-of-the-mill. The bigger issue is that Rebel Moon seems to not want to make an effort to stand out among similar titles like Rogue One (which is far superior), and one of the reasons might be its runtime.

This version of Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire is not 100% of the movie that Snyder wanted to show. The R-rated extended cut is yet to come out, and it’s possible to see and feel that pieces are missing in the story – especially when you factor in that there’s also a Part Two supposed to come out in four months. The worst of it is that Rebel Moon goes out of its way to present itself as a PG-13 movie, with violent moments so blatantly cut short that they lose all impact. It makes it extra hard to feel engaged in the movie’s fights.

What also gets neglected in this first cut of Rebel Moon is the worldbuilding that was teased so much by Snyder himself. He obviously came up with several planets and societies that could make the characters as distinct as possible and yet… what defines each of the planets? What can you solidly remember about them after the screening is over? Not by chance, the one that stands out is Veldt – which is the planet we spend more time in and meet the most characters. For the rest, it feels like Snyder thought that populating a planet just requires putting together weird-looking aliens that pop on the screen.

What Is Good in ‘Rebel Moon’?

All in all, we can’t ignore the elements that do work in Rebel Moon. That Snyder will commit to delivering top-notch special effects is kind of a given at this point, but it doesn’t mean that we should take it for granted. The costume design, production design, and special effects are efficient in creating a haunting environment when it needs to – particularly when Imperium disciples land on Veldt and other territories.

Ultimately, one of the best sentiments that Rebel Moon evokes is the sense that oppressed people have no choice but to revolt. This is expressed pretty early in the movie when a discussion ends with an unexpected body on the floor. It gets us invested in Kora’s journey, and you do root for her and her team. You’ll just wish you had the chance to know them better.

Rating: 5/10

Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S. starting December 21 at 7 p.m. PST/10 p.m. EST.

WATCH ON NETFLIX