Film Review – Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)

An epic action tale set across different planets in a galaxy ruled by an evil imperialistic power seems like a promising start for any sci-fi series. No, I am not talking about the Star Wars films, as you may have imagined reading the initial description of this film, but instead of Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver, the second instalment in the newest sci-fi saga by none other than Zack Snyder. After watching Part One, my hopes for its sequel were quite low, and yet its sequence was still very much a disappointment.

The follow-up starts where Part One had left off, and actually reminds us of the first film’s events with a helpful recap of everything that happened in the first instalment of the series. It is so helpful that you could even easily watch the second part of the saga without having seen the first. Unlike the first, this movie takes place entirely on the moon of Veldt as Kora (Sofia Boutella) and the other warriors return to help the farmers protect their home against the Motherworld. As they prepare for a fight against the greatest power in the Imperium, Kora must face an old enemy, Attucus Noble (Ed Skrein) who she thought dead.

With the second film of the series, Zack Snyder continues his tradition of exposition. Much of the movie’s lack of conflict and stakes is eventually down to the storytelling. When all the backstories of the main characters are told in an expositionary matter both to us and to the other characters in the film, it is hard actually to care for their stories or their well-being at all. Similarly, much of the conflict is told to us rather than shown, which similarly weakens the stakes of the overall film, except for the final act when we finally see the battle with the Motherworld in progress and some action at last.

Kora is a good example of this: her character seems to be naturally good at any type of fighting she engages in. As we see little struggle from her, or any other character for that matter, in shooting or defending themselves, it is very hard to believe that they would have difficulties in fighting off the enemy. Once again, this saga seems to have an issue with character development. This, combined with repetitive and overly used slow-motion shots, gave me a certain sense of Deja Vu from Part One.

Rebel Moon Part Two feels like a copy of Part One, and not even a good one. ittedly, this one is a lot more boring than the first, without the excitement of a journey that takes the characters across different planets and without the novelty of a new world as the latter has already been introduced in the latest movie. With its setting entirely on Veldt, a moon the audience has already become familiar with in the first installment of the film, there is surprisingly little new information the audience acquires in the second part or, for that matter, any action.

For being an action film focused on a battle, in fact, the actual action of the film only takes place in its final act with far too much slow preparation for it throughout its first half. Overall, this movie is dull, long, and not an improvement from the already strenuous first part. With nearly identical plot points and retelling of backstories we already know or could imagine well enough from the first one, ultimately the whole Rebel Moon saga feels like a copy of the sci-fi series everyone seems to look up to: Star Wars.