Time for a Bloody Harvest: review of the film “Rebel Moon: The Giver of Scars”

On April 19, Netflix released the second film in the large-scale sci-fi duology “Rebel Moon” from Zack Snyder, in which Sofia Boutella, along with a team of mercenaries, fights against an interstellar dictatorship. About how the director300 Spartans” And “Guardians“Completed his long-time dream project, says Dmitry Sokolov.

Having gathered several experienced warriors to fight the army of the powerful Kingdom, the warrior Cora returns to her home planet Veld, where she is greeted by inspired farmers. But it’s too early to relax: the royal dreadnought under the command of Admiral Noble is inexorably approaching, and the soldiers loyal to him are ready to grind the rebellious inhabitants of the Veld into bloody powder. Cora and her companions have only five days to prepare a defense, transforming a handful of peaceful farmers into brave militias capable of challenging the Kingdom’s forces.

“The Giver of Scars” is a sweeping and sometimes beautiful, but thoroughly formulaic military action in a sci-fi setting

The general logic of constructing the duology is the same as in “Seven Samurai” (a classic of samurai cinema and one of Snyder’s sources of inspiration). In the first half of the plot, the central character assembles a team, and in the second, he leads it into battle against hordes of enemies. The first part of “Rebel Moon” was built around the search for heroes, with whom Cora will have to fight shoulder to shoulder. The second part is devoted to the battle of mercenaries with the troops of Admiral Noble, who is eager not so much to squeeze out valuable grain from farmers as to capture the woman who raised them to revolt.

The film is clearly divided into two segments

During the first hour, Cora and her team prepare to defend the village while Noble

(resurrected by miracle doctors after the fight in the finale of the first part)

Be careful, there’s a spoiler under the button!

intends to put an end to the emerging rebellion with a couple of powerful blows. And the entire second hour is given over to various battle scenes, the culmination of which will be the sabotage of the rebels on the dreadnought. If in “Child of Fire” Snyder actively alternated calm and combat episodes, then in “The Giver of Scars,” on the contrary, he concentrated all the action in the second half of the film. And although in general this decision justified itself, it, alas, has many disadvantages.

“The Giver of Scars” contains virtually nothing new about the world in which it takes place.

The script instead spends more time developing each of the members of Cora’s squad, revealing their motivations for fighting against the Kingdom and thus making up for the shortcomings of the first part.

Each of these characters’ stories about themselves is framed in the form of a short action-flashback, slightly diluting the calm pace in the first half of the film, but the stories shown are extremely clichéd. Some refused to shoot at freedom-loving local residents, some had their entire family killed, and some fled from slavery. Even though these sketches were shot well, they are shown very briefly, and they don’t add much brightness to the characters.

It’s the same with the setting. Almost all events take place in one (already well-known) location, with characters familiar from the first part. Where in the first part there was a huge and original (if sometimes clumsy) world, in the second there was one village and a dreadnought hanging over it. It is clear that such a reduction in scale is due to the plot, but still, from the visual visionary Snyder, you expect at least a couple more artsy monsters, mutant cyborgs, or at least exotic military equipment.

The next big problem is the film’s blatant bloodlessness.

This was noticeable in many scenes of the first part, but considering that in the second the lion’s share of the timing is given over to brutal battles, the action here often looks mercilessly cut up. Even in fights where heroes fight with energy swords, not a drop of blood is shed, and the most delicious finishing moves are left behind the scenes. The situation is partly saved by the fact that many soldiers wear heavy armor that does not allow fountains of blood to pass through, but in any case, the lack of tasty dismemberment undermines the entertainment value of many spectacular scenes.

Some plot twists are presented with surprising carelessness for such a serious battle.

You can also somehow forgive the fact that the pilots of the Kingdom, in the heat of battle, do not pay attention to the small rebel ship nearby: after all, its design is similar to their own. But the sudden decision of one of the farmers to give the rebels a signal to attack (and this at the decisive moment of negotiations with Noble!) looks like a frankly stupid attempt to disrupt a peaceful (albeit very difficult) solution to the conflict under the influence of momentary emotions. And although concerns about the admiral’s honesty are understandable, the situation itself is depicted as ridiculously absurd, especially considering that farmers value the life of every member of the community.

But Snyder compensated for all these shortcomings with the beauty and scope of the battles

The cannons of the walking tanks of the Kingdom roar, farmers in narrow tunnels shoot enemy soldiers, a horned robot hermit throws a grenade into the hatch of a tank, jumping out a second before the explosion, a stern woman with blade arms chops people right and left – the cascade of spectacular scenes does not stop from the first until the last shot of the battle.

I would especially like to note the best flashback associated with the story of Cora’s escape. In Snyder’s signature narration, accompanied by the melancholic melodies of violins, the villain Belisarius and his accomplices kill the royal family while a stunned Cora watches her life fall apart. (In a tiny role as the King is Cary Elwes from the Saw franchise).

And even the most banal harvesting is depicted here as a heroic struggle with nature: muscular farmers swing their scythes in a hypnotic rhythm, shoulder armfuls of hay and generally demonstrate the inexhaustible charm of peasant life. Comrade Stalin could easily have commissioned Snyder to make a film about the valor of agriculture.

The final battles take place aboard the dreadnought Royal Gaze, where Cora first fights her way through a labyrinth of compartments and then battles Noble in a huge hangar as the damaged ship slowly falls from the skies to earth. Soon the rebels will arrive in their nimble fighters, ready to finish off the remnants of the royal troops. In general, Snyder, even remaining in the grip of a “children’s” PG-13 rating, is still capable of delivering good sci-fi action.

Add to this the style familiar from the first part, combining elements of ancient Roman (sometimes even Byzantine) and Nazi aesthetics, a lot of beautifully filmed fights and explosions – you get a solid fantasy epic that you can enjoy, despite the abundance of minor flaws. The “Rebel Moon” duology is unlikely to become a cult (there is not enough game and gore), but it will clearly occupy a significant place in Snyder’s filmography.

+++