Fan favorite Director Zack Snyder’s most recent inter-galactic extravaganza “Rebel Moon” is an audacious journey into the world of “Motherworld”, a militaristic empire fueled by centuries of conquest and war. The last king of Motherworld is seen as the most powerful person in the galaxy and he along with his family gets assassinated by his own trusted generals. Later, a prominent senator, Balisarius, takes over the army and runs the conquests in the empire’s name.
The king had an innocent daughter, Princess Issa, who possessed a rare gift of healing and resurrection. This is taken as a sign of redemption for the Motherworld, as the royal family has grown weary of conflict and hopes that Issa will unify the empire not through force but through compassion.
Then the army of Balisarius, goes to distant places and attacks other smaller kingdoms. The army forcefully takes over distant planets and has a knack of stumping down rebellion while capturing all the crops from farmers of independent planet of Veldt.
The Russia – Ukraine Holodomor
The plot of Rebel Moon has deep references to the Ukrainian Rebellion during the Holodomor. If you just replace the Motherworld with Mother Russia, the Regent Balisarius with the Mystical Grigori Rasputin and what followed after the assassination of the last king of Imperial Russia, then everything will seem pretty relatable.
The costumes of the Motherworld army has an uncanny resemblance with the Russian Army during the USSR conquests. The way they live in the icy world of Motherworld and the way they look at warm farmlands of farmers, nothing new to history enthusiasts. When the leader of the farmer asks the central character, Kora, an ex-emperial army veteran in hiding, about the intentions of MotherWorld’s army in their village, she replies “They are here for everything”.
The look of all the planets, empires and farmlands are taken directly from the history of Russia post 1900s.
A Tribute to Star Wars
Director Zack Snyder, who has directed successful franchisees like 300, The Justice League, The Suicide Squad, and many independent action movies, has given a tribute to Star Wars in Rebel Moon. His usual style of slow motion packed action sequences, speed ramping, heroes with six packs, and authentic weaponry can be seen this movie in a star wars like set up.
The references to star wars is so evident throughout the film, that it would almost look like another star wars movie. May it be the droids, the evil empire, the group of rebels, journey through different planets, space ships of all kinds, all kinds of space aliens, and of course the space jumps.
Lack of Depth in Characters
The storyline revolves around few characters who wants revenge against an all powerful imperial army. The motivation of all the characters to follow Kora, the leader doesn’t have much context to it. She just shows up on different planets and everyone she meets just accepts her proposal to join her fight. The action sequences are nice and no Snyder fan can complain about them but the storyline has its own quirks.
There are no surprises or twists in the story. Every move is very predictable and nothing stands out as something to re-watch. The Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is the first part and the second part is to be released a week later on 29th December. May be we will find some answers in the second part.
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The cast ensembles major actors like Sofia Boutella, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam, and Anthony Hopkins. Zack Snyder himself is giving voice to certain scenes. But there are no stand out performances.
The movie is now available to watch on Netflix.
[…] Also Read: Rebel Moon Review: Zack Snyder’s Star wars built upon Ukrainian Rebellion against Russia! […]