Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver (2024), directed by Zack Snyder, stars Sofia Boutella, Michiel Huisman, Ed Skrein, Djimon Hounsou, Staz Nair, Bae Doona, Elise Duffy, Anthony Hopkins, Alfonso Herrera, Ingvar Sigurdsson, Stuart Martin, Charlotte Maggi, and Sky Yang. The film is a continuation of Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire (2023) and follows Kora (Boutella) along with her newly formed team of warriors as they attempt to defend a small village from the monstrous “Motherworld.” 

The various members of the cast all seem to understand the kind of movie they’re in, but it’s too bad the kind of movie they’re in is a silly B-movie riff on some much better sci-fi classics. Dialogue is often goofy and annoyingly self-important while the characterizations are confusing and random. For example, characters who are framed to be experienced warriors make rash decisions as soon as the battle breaks out. Why sacrifice everything you established about your characters in everything leading up to the climax?

 Like the first film, it’s clear that important character exposition was cut. This leads to arcs that are either half-formed or missing completely. This problem is so prevalent that the film often spends long action sequences focusing on the sacrifice of characters we don’t even know. Because of this, many of the stakes go out the window. It seems obvious, but why would the audience care about characters they don’t know? On top of this, Snyder feels the need to give every character and planet some kind of ridiculous, unpronounceable name. It just feels like Star Wars, but gone wild. 

Although most of the visual effects look great, Snyder once again uses an egregious amount of slow motion. He even goes as far as giving us a slow-motion sequence where farmers are cutting grain. Instead of improving the visual thrills, slow motion is used so often that it just makes the whole experience feel drawn out. Characters also do “cool” looking things during action sequences simply for the sake of being cool. None of it is practical or professional, it’s just done in the sake of stylization. It all looks pretty good, but it also doesn’t have much of a brain. 

The script immediately feels the need to give the audience an extended recap of the previous installment which only adds to the film’s absurd amount of exposition. It’s strange because it spends so much time on exposition, but none of it feels like the exposition we want/need. In other words, the film has too much exposition while simultaneously needing more. This problem with exposition is only compounded by the fact that this feels like the extended climax of the previous movie. It’s one thing to receive too much exposition in a story’s first two acts, but if it also happens during the third act, it’s far more bothersome as a viewer. A climax is meant for payoffs, not more buildup.

Another issue with this film is that like its predecessor, it’s not nearly shy enough about it’s influences. Seven Samurai (1954), Star Wars (1977), and even Dune (2021) are clear references. The thing is, they go beyond influence and come across as ripoffs of those movies. This being said, it’s also sort of the movie’s charm (if you can point to one). In a sense, it feels like a 12-year-old boy telling a story with his favorite action figures. There’s something pure and admirable about that kind of childlike wonder.

Overall, this is basically on par with the previous installment and essentially just ends up being a predictable Star Wars riff. It also feels like there was some kind of disaster in the editing room, leading to sequences that feel like important scenes are missing. It just ends up feeling like an underwhelming extension of the first movie (which was underwhelming in its own right). It’s worth a watch if you enjoyed the first film and want to continue the story, but everyone else can skip it and let the first one fade away in their memory. C-