Oh, I see that film. Despite the negative reviews it received at the start, I went into the film with an open mind; yet, nothing I saw on screen shocked me. We essentially sat through two hours and fifteen minutes of a travel montage. Just like in the original Shrek film, when they were escorting Fiona to Lord Farquaad, they ran into a plethora of problems and met interesting characters along the road.
That was the vibe it was going for. It’s not all bad news; I did find a few good things in this film, albeit it’s not easy. But first, I must point out all the things that I thought were wrong with it. And that is why I think it fell short of its goals and failed in the end.
Alright, then, we can begin. This is where Rebel Moon Part 1 goes wrong. Spoilers are about to be unleashed.
Spolier Alert!
The Lack Of Scale
The fact that Korra’s quest for liberating the village and other locations from Motherworld’s clutches was ultimately futile is one of the biggest things this film got wrong from the start.
It had the air of a threat that wasn’t really serious. The only time I felt threatened was when the army was preparing to attack Sam in the village. But it was only because we had spent some time with the people before the army came, so we connected with the characters.
I should preface this by saying that we didn’t spend much time with them; in fact, I’d say we spent the better part of the first quarter of the film there. But at that same second, everything were moving at a rapid rate, and I could feel that something terrible was about to happen. Sam felt that there was a legitimate reason to be afraid after being brought into a room by men and being on the verge of something terrible.
Although we witnessed the destruction of planets at the hands of the Motherworld, my issue with the larger scale issues and Korra’s desire to gather an army to confront the returning soldiers is that, due to the rapidity with which everything occurred and the lack of immersion in the affected planets and their inhabitants, we were unable to fully comprehend the reasons behind each individual’s refusal.
How hazardous they actually were remained a mystery to us. Looking at it from a high level was all we could do. In the current day, we were unaware of the strength, weaponry, and attacking strategy of the Motherworld’s soldiers. No, actually. Following our brief epiphany, it was all quite ignored. Consider the Vitica.
The character and the planet they were on were shown to us in a quick flash. Admiral Atticus Noble then showed up, murdered them, and destroyed the planet approximately 2.5 minutes later. I found it to be utterly meaningless. Their savagery was on full display, but the planet’s devastation failed to inspire any further dread in me; all that remained were a small number of soldiers.
The Lack Of Connections To The Characters
Are we facing the formidable Motherworld that will wipe us off the face of the earth? Given the grand scale it was attempting to suggest, it simply seemed a bit lacking in scale. It baffles me that Korra mustered such a little army to defend the hamlet; I seriously doubt they will be able to defeat the Motherworld and her armies.
There will be so many casualties that the community and those fresh recruits won’t even come close. Additionally, it will never succeed if the Motherworld fighters are as talented as Korra portrays them to be. Scale was a major concern of mine. Disconnection from the Plot and Characters Part 1 of the movie focused on Korra gathering a cast of individuals, thus it seems to reason that we would develop some sort of emotional connection to them.
However, you won’t experience that emotion in the slightest. The Motherworld has wronged and destroyed the lives of many people, and instead, as I mentioned in the introduction, you see more of a montage of these encounters. After that, you’ll spend around ten minutes learning about their fighting prowess or reputation, and then it’s as easy as hopping on a ship to meet the next person.
Korra is no different. During our time with her, we learned her history and how she became Korra—first the princess’s guard—and later the most formidable warrior who ever lived, earning the moniker Scargiver. It was as if I had no emotions whatsoever; I had no idea what she was like. The lack of complexity and its attempt to accomplish too much in too little time are the main reasons.
Following the course was all there was to it, and everything was presented in such a basic, uninteresting fashion. JC 1435 was the only character in the film that piqued my interest. After the monarch was killed, the robot decided to stay out of the conflict. There was a complex bit of friction that we didn’t really see develop, but there was mystery and intrigue, and they even killed one of their soldiers after seeing them do something bad. This showed that they had morals and fought for what they believed in, which is at odds with the Motherworld’s troops.
I would have like to spend more time with that character in the subsequent scenes of the film because we barely got around 1.5 minutes of screentime with her. The plot of the film revolved around gathering characters, yet not a single one of them really stood out. Having said that, I think the actor playing Admiral Noble did a respectable job.
They succeeded well because he became a symbol of evil and gave the appearance that he took pleasure in other people’s misery so that he could feel stronger himself. However, aside than that, I am unsure. Nothing piqued my interest. It was so dull and predictable, right down to Kai turning out to be a double crosser.
There were limited options for its possible paths, and that one was very clear. Gunner was another one of those characters that I found quite pitiful. His decision to defy the village patriarch was the sole cause of the problem, and yet he was ultimately hailed as the hero. It was rather foolish of him, because things could have turned out differently and they wouldn’t have been in such a bind if he had just listened to Corus’s advice and kept quiet. The characters were all somewhat uninteresting to me, and I found it difficult to empathise with them.
The Cringey Moments
The Upsetting Times Every scene in this film had me either laughing out loud or cringing. I don’t think it belongs in a picture with a story like this, which is about the oppression and destruction of entire planets, people, and towns.
I couldn’t help but let out a scream at one point. When Darian Bloodaxe, who had gone aboard to prevent the Motherworld ships from attacking the resistance, fell to his death while doing so. Along with him, his buddy screamed so loudly that she lost control and started blazing her weapon.
It utterly detached you from the present, and I sat there contemplating, “What the fuck?” There were other occasions as well, like when someone was bathing General Titus and he just stood there in this strange position. The majority of Korra’s emotional lines, and even her attempts to persuade Titus, were delivered with great skill.
It was really off-putting how several of the characters delivered lines. Almost as if it were being performed on stage instead of in a movie, the acting was so exaggerated. For that reason, it seemed a little out of place, which led to some awkward moments that I couldn’t stand.
What Was Good in Rebel Moon: Part 1?
From an aesthetic and emotional standpoint, this film was distinctly Snyder, and to be quite honest, there is nothing else quite like it in Snyder’s canon. The slow-motion fight scenes, for instance, were aesthetically pleasing. It was also visually stunning to watch the choreography during some fight sequences.
I liked how the camera would zoom in so close that it was almost like being there in the middle of the battle. In addition, I thought the choral music that would play in the background during battles was a great touch; it elevated the emotional tone of the fight scenes, giving them an air of royal grandeur and an epic, if fleeting, grandeur.
It was well-suited to the film’s grading, colour palette, and tone. What I mean is, the film isn’t terrible in terms of sound or visuals, but the plot is so dull and uninteresting, and it doesn’t set anything up whatsoever. Snyder claimed the director’s cut is like a whole new film, but please, just produce the proper film the first time.
“Oh yeah, this isn’t how I really wanted to make it” is becoming an increasingly ludicrous defence for directors to provide when defending their films. Until you get a chance to shape it to your liking, I wouldn’t recommend taking the job. Therefore, when directors publicly state such, I find it a little amusing.
In any case, the story, the pacing, and the connections in this film were all somewhat lacklustre. Even though I didn’t have great expectations, I was willing to give it a go, so that’s too bad. Here you have it, the whole Rebel Moon 1 debacle.
In your opinion, how was this film? Please subscribe and leave a remark below. I’ll run into you again.
[imdb show=”transparent” data=”detailed”]tt14998742[/imdb]
