Sitting through Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver is an easier and less unpleasant experience than watching A Child of Fire. These are not the words you’d associate with a quality sequel but what do you expect from a structure with such shoddy foundations?
The characters, while still incredibly dull, are given more to do in The Scargiver, resulting a slightly more engaging experience. The worldbuilding shines a little brighter as we see the armies of the Motherworld go into battle with their Soviet-style tech. The Seven Samurai premise set up by Part One is paid off here but why did this story need to be split in two? In this context, the sequel being better than its originator is not a compliment but a terminal symptom of the series.
Kora (Sofia Boutella) returns to the moon of Veldt with her team of warriors. With only five days to prepare for the Motherworld’s arrival, Kora and her team start prepping the villagers for battle but despite their years of training, nothing can prepare them for the appearance of Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein); alive and well.
The Characters
I’m going to be perfectly honest and say that I don’t remember all the characters from the first Rebel Moon. Kora stuck with me (remarkably) as did Jimmy (he’s a robot voiced by Anthony Hopkins, how can you forget that?!) I remember Titus because he’s played by Djimon Hounsou, the Admiral because he’s the villain and Tarak (Staz Nair) because he flew a bird thing.
I can remember what the others looked like but not their names or backstories. This became problematic when one of these characters became a love interest for Kora. I wasn’t worried or felt like I’d missed something, I just didn’t care.
Watching the warriors train the villagers makes them appear less shallow as characters, this is especially the case with Titus. In Part One we were told he was a former general yet he came across as just another gun with legs. Here he formulates a battle plan for the village and assigns tasks to the farmers, we see the general generalling.
Kora’s romance with what’s-his-name, while impossible to invest in, at least gives her the opportunity to change facial expression.
I was forgiving of Jimmy’s role in Part One as I presumed he was being saved for Part Two. Well I can now confirm that Jimmy the Robot was saved for nothing because all he contributes in The Scargiver is an extra pair of feet at the final battle. As a principle character he really is useless.
The film bizarrely features a lot of flashbacks. One of which comes from Kora and depicts her witnessing the assassination of the Motherworld’s princess. It’s a pretty good scene and would’ve made a perfect prologue for A Child of Fire.
The most egregious of these flashbacks occur in a single scene, only seconds apart from each other. The night before the Motherworld is due to arrive, all the warriors sit down and disclose their dark pasts. Each warrior gets a flashback, showing their backstory. Wasn’t this the point of Part One?! To establish these characters so we could get on with the action? This whole scene is a tedious waste of time.
Despite their brief glimmers of humanity, the characters in The Scargiver are the same action figures we met in A Child of Fire.
The Worldbuilding
It’s great to see more of the Motherworld’s army and technology. Their Soviet fashion aside, the tech aboard their ship is deliciously retro futuristic. Its engine is like one of a steam engine as we see workers shovelling coal into pits of fire. I’m not a scientist but I don’t think a space ship can run on coal, it’s an interesting visual regardless.
The production design for the Motherworld may distinguish Rebel Moon from other space operas, from those I’ve seen anyway. We see the film’s rendition of the AT-AT walker in the form of a mechanical spider tank that accompanies the army. The Star Wars influence is obvious however the vehicle’s texture and mechanics have a steampunk vibe.
If the writing was a lot better I’d be interested in seeing more of the Motherworld but despite being easier to watch, The Scargiver is a minimal improvement compared to its predecessor. Like A Child of Fire, The Scargiver proves once again that Zack Snyder should really stick to directing.
I give Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver a mediocre 5 out of 10.
Duffhood 