Just a few months ago in December, Zack Snyder treated fans to his version of Star Wars with the straight-to-streaming action flick Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire. The movie got a negative reception from critics, in part because it was just the first half of the story. Now, Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver is available to stream with a Netflix subscription, and critics have the chance to weigh in on a more complete narrative. So what are they saying?
The Scargiver sees Sofia Boutella’s Kora and the other survivors back to defend their new homeland against the Motherworld, and just like the first time around, an R-rated director’s cut is planned. That was a big part of our own Mike Reyes’ issues with A Child of Fire, because why would you watch a PG-13 version of a movie and not wait for the filmmaker’s true vision? In CinemaBlend’s review of Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver, Reyes says there are still issues, but it’s not as obviously strained as its predecessor. He writes:
Part Two doesn’t feel like you’re watching a TV edit. While there are still moments that read as being carefully constructed for this version – such as a scene of romance between Kora and Gunnar (Michiel Huisman) – that unique Rebel Moon flaw isn’t as obvious in The Scargiver. This is in part thanks to the momentum of the story and action being more captivating. With the story moving at a faster pace and with more purpose, the censorship isn't as clear.
Travis Hopson of Punch Drunk Critics agrees that The Scargiver is an improvement over the first offering, but he points out that was a low bar. The first half of the movie spends a lot of time on the wheat harvest, Hopson says, and other critiques of the film include bad dialogue and an amateurish narrative. The critic concludes:
Snyder can create gorgeous, vivid depictions of fantasy violence that look like paintings come to life, and Rebel Moon, both chapters, are at their best when he’s allowed to focus on that. Although The Scargiver is less burdened by stale, redundant plotting than The Child of Fire, there’s still a lot to get through before Snyder’s strengths are truly put on display.
While these critics at least say Part Two is an improvement, Forbes’ Erik Kain isn’t even willing to give it that. Kain also mentions the abundance of wheat harvesting and overuse of slow-motion shots, calling The Scargiver “more tedious and less inventive” than the movie that came before. The critic writes:
Lots of fighting ensues. Lots of slow-motion. Almost an unbearable amount. I was torn between dozing off and laughing out loud at the ridiculous amount of tedious action sequences that ensued, punctuated only briefly by anything remotely original (again, Jimmy who probably could have stopped the entire bad guy battalion on his own). I almost wished they’d just go back to the slow-motion wheat harvesting.
Hanna Ines Flint of IGN rates it a “Bad” 4 out of 10, saying that while it’s a slight improvement over the first movie because of its simpler story and more enticing climactic battle, it’s still two more hours of the same shallow characters and plot. Flint continues:
Ed Skrein's antagonist performance stands out amid a sea of uninspired filler in Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver. Zack Snyder's unsatisfying conclusion to his bombastic space opera is filled with flimsy character studies, exposition overload, and largely half-baked action sequences that rarely live up to the sci-fi classics it emulates. This finale is the cinematic equivalent of finishing a second-hand jigsaw puzzle only to find several pieces missing.
Pramit Chatterjee of DMT says that in the same way The Child of Fire was a two-hour trailer for The Scargiver, The Scargiver is a two-hour trailer for Part Three. Chatterjee laments the lack of any good action from Zack Snyder, saying every set piece feels like a rehearsal rather than the final product. In the critic’s words:
If there’s a lack of momentum in every single swing of a sword, if I can see the actor anticipating their partner’s next move instead of making it look like a reaction, and if the gun fights have no ‘oomph’ to them, then the whole thing seems like a mish-mash of half-baked ideas. And it’s sad and surprising to see Snyder make bad action scenes in three consecutive films. He has revolutionized superhero fighting. The use of different cameras set at different focal lengths for that now iconic sword battle in 300 was genius. And now, all he can muster are these dull action scenes where people endlessly shoot at each other, and something explodes every two seconds.
As of this writing, Rotten Tomatoes is scoring Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver at a rotten 10% from 20 critics. Zack Snyder responded to negative feedback of Part One by saying he didn’t really understand the visceral reactions, but unfortunately for the filmmaker, it hasn’t gotten much better the second time around. If you want to check out the next offering in the series, you can do so now on Netflix — which we think is one of the best streaming services available.
Also be sure to check out our 2024 movie calendar to see what else is coming soon to theaters and streaming.
