Rebel Mooned, again...

As promised in my review of Rebel Moon part 1, I return with a review of Rebel Moon part 2: The Scar giver. So, strap on them Imperium uniforms and prepare for this Space-Viking-cowboy-Nazi-science fiction space opera. 

This is the second part, and the thrilling conclusion of Rebel Moon... Wait, what's that, it made too much money, there's going to be a third? Maybe? We don't know yet... um okay.

We'll just move forward with this review and cross that bridge when the enemy comes to shoot us all to crap. By now, you might have heard, or at the very least surmised there would be more rebel moons out soon, 4 more if old Zach has anything to do with it. However, I am not so sure the next one, Rebel Moon 3 has been greenlit. There are rumors it has, and also that it will start filming in 2025. If they make it, I will review it. For now, let just focus on Part 2. Don't want to get caught up in the assumption game and get taken out of context.

I liked the first one, and I liked the second one. I loved neither of them. If I'd paid money to see these in the theater I wouldn't have been mad, they would have been worth the price of admission at least at current ticket rates. I gave the first one an 80%, 8 sweaty-abs out of 10 for good ol' Zach Snyder. And I think the follow up falls right in that same zone. I won't be as cruel as the critics. Some of the those websites that don't understand fun, either that, or they get paid to sink shows. 

So, full transparency, I did look at the critic's ratings of this movie. The critics didn't enjoy this movie and that's likely because the vast majority of them don't have souls and don't know when a movie is just a movie, those that do, get lost in the wash. Let's break it down.

The writing in this one is exactly like the first one. It's okay, it could be better. The dialogue is handled exactly the same and the characters do a good job with all they are provided. That being said, this could have had better dialogue and writing. It's a space opera, so I don't expect much from it. I don't expect it to be profound, I don't expect it to be Shakespeare, but what I do expect is for the writers to have their shit together enough for this to make since. There are a couple of very large mistakes in this show, ones that I have to mention (spoilers) because they just bugged the crap out of me. 

The first is that there is some very unnecessary scenes in this show that felt like they were inserted not to further the story but to make the movie longer. Space hoe-downs, lonely gun-man confessions and kissing when everything is burning and explosions are happening, oh my! Oh yeah, and don't forget the underutilization of "James" (you'll get that when you see the show). 

I hate these kinds of tropes, unless they are relevant to the story- they are not in this show. One that has always bothered me is the passionate kiss as everything goes up in smoke. The two main characters decide now's the time, yep, this's it, we need to kiss rather than run for cover. Stop doing this Hollywood! 

One of the other writer errors was the timeline. "We have 5 days to do everything, including train the villagers to be soldiers and killers"... common really? You, as writers should know better. Shame on you. You could have written them in more time so it could be marginally believable. Damn, know your craft! 

Lastly, the grain, the grain is a terrible reason for someone like Admiral Nobel to stand down and let is "War Hard-on" get flaccid (yes that is capitalized). This doesn't meet the character qualifications established in the first one. I better move on, or this score is going to go down.

The acting is once again good-ish, but not great. It's good enough to coverup some of the writing and also good enough to make most of it fit well and feel natural. It doesn't ruin the film for the most part, except for the aforementioned tropes. Oh, wait, there is one really good piece of acting in this show. I love the bad guy. Admiral Nobel is such a juicy, rotten, formidable badass. To be honest, I was kind of rooting for him in half this show. He really sets the bar with the bad-guy vibe. Again, nazi-corporate-yes-man. 10 stars for you admiral. 

The science-fiction didn't change much in part II. It's still more fantasy than science fiction. I don't really care either way, I expect to suspend disbelieve with space operas. As far as they go, this one is definitely singing loud. It checks all the boxes. The thing is, this movie could have easily been a Starwars movie like it was supposed to be- it would have been easy to make into a short series in the Disney empire. And it most likely would have been better than some of the series they put out. Cause lets face it, a few of those shows are the worst.

Okay, the special effect and cinematography in this show are awesome. This is where Zach Snyder hits his stride, and although there's a whole lot of slow motion and dramatic side scrolling bridge shots where laser bolts are tearing everything to pieces, it feels more natural than the slow-motion shots in Rebel Moon part 1. In this one, much like the first, there are some really good wide angle panning shots too. Something else I noticed was that contrast used between the peaceful hard-working peasants, and the Imperium. I could sum this up as very "Tolkienian" in nature- plants and peace, versus steam, smoke and war. The Imperium ships are dirty, loud, and smoking everywhere. The farmers are quiet, clean, and soft but with abs, lots of abs- The Snyder knows what sells, titties and dude-abs.

Music in this is meh. It's there, it supports everything the way it should. None of it sticks out for the most part, except maybe one song. You won't being humming these tunes down the road. Most of them are very forgettable, and that's okay, they are there for support and discord not to win you over or add to the show. If you want that, watch "Fallout", it's all about the music and ambiance. This show's music is just about meeting the standards.

To sum up: if you don't expect much out of this movie, you won't be disappointed. It's a fun space opera. It's designed to be a science fiction shoot em' up with some awesome characters, some explosions, some underdogs going for the gold, and some bad guys getting what they deserve. It doesn't need to be deep and profound to be fun. And this movie is fun. Not super fun, but it's a hoot. So I say, know what you are getting into and then treat it like a one night stand- fun for the evening and then we'll see about repeats. I'd give this one that same score I gave the first one: an 8 sweaty abs out of 10. 80% for all of you who don't do the maths so well. Enjoy, but don't expect much.

Cheers!