Getting back to Rebel Moon, I gave it a rewatch last night and there were some things that struck me.
Things I like:
main characters and story - I enjoy all the main characters all pretty much. I definitely want to know more about all of them. In Part 2 I expect to learn their backstories. And for Part 1 for some characters we’ll learn much more in the director’s cut as well. I want to see them at least die gloriously as they defend Veldt against the Imperium.
worldbuilding/lore - I’m curious about such things as the history of Issa (three different incarnations dating back to an ancient original goddess), the order of knighthood for the Jimmies, how the Imperium’s neural link network works, the royal family, and the creepy tech-religion of the Imperium.
Jimmy - Jimmy is awesome! We’ll see a fair bit more of him in the director’s cut of Part 1. For a character this good to be almost entirely cut out of the PG13 cut is almost criminal. Anyway, every time he’s on screen it makes me happy.
Scribes - the scribes are creepy af. Here too one of the best features of this whole mythos we only get a few glimpses of, which is a shame. We know from the novelization that they for some bizarre reason pull teeth out of the slain leaders of the planets and moons that they conquer and place those molars around a portrait of the slain Princess Issa, which they carry around. Wtf? I just want to learn more about them.
King Levitica - In the novelization (which will basically be the director’s cut) we get to see a fair bit more about this king and his planet, and its culture. He’s nearly as awesome as Jimmy. We only get to see the slightest bit of him in the PG13 cut. It’s a shame.
Kai - At the first watch I didn’t realize it, but I really did want to see him become a good guy! So I bought into his treachery. In subsequent watches I’ve enjoyed watching how he pulls that off. Charlie Hunam did a really nice job with the role. He’s a charmer. And from a deconstructive angle, in a more realistic or grounded approach to Star Wars a character like Han Solo would almost certainly have screwed the rest of the party early on, i.e., sold them out for a profit, etc. So I do appreciate this character. But at the end of the day ironically he ends up serving a greater purpose to bring the team together regardless of his sinister motives.
Things I’m ambivalent about:
Fight choreography - Sofia Boutella was a trained dancer and in that sense is athletic. It does give her fight scenes some air of believability. And dramatically speaking, as an actor, she does a very good job selling the fight scenes. She does the best job in her final fight scene with Noble—I really bought that one. The scene in the barn is decent, although a few movements don’t read as natural feeling. And in fact soldiers make themselves too easy targets for the blows. The bar fight scene felt a bit obligatory and worn. Anyway, although Sofia makes it work well enough, it’s not as satisfying as it ideally could be if a professional stunt woman had been used. This is sort of a mixed bag for me.
Gunnar - He’s relatively likable and endearing but there’s a sort blushing “awe shucks” vulnerability to him that feels overdrawn. Sort of like the Disney character Goofy. It’s almost annoying. I’m assuming this is a matter of direction, the actor doing as instructed. If it’s genre deconstruction is that something that’s being emphasized for a reason?
Things that bothered me:
Jerks are overdrawn - This is a problem I have come to have with many of Zack’s films. Anyone who is a dick is needlessly exaggerated. The soldiers (except for Private Aris who aids the villagers) are particularly cringe in that respect. Ray Porter’s smuggler (?) character falls into this category, for the most part. The dog faced dude in the bar that hits on Gunnar as well.
Noble’s slack jaw - Ed Skrein I’m sure is doing this as he was directed by Zack, but much of the time he puts a kind of a slack into his jaw (with mouth remaining closed). It’s overdone. He’s at his most satisfying to watch when he’s pretending to be nice in order to get what he wants. The slack jaw (as much as he uses it) isn’t necessary.
Bloodaxes overact - Ray Fisher rocked it as Cyborg. IIRC he’s actually done some Shakespeare. Evidently he’s got some real acting chops. But much… eh, most… of his performance in this movie feels exaggerated and overdrawn. To his credit he sells the motivation to join the rebels fine. And his sacrificial death scene is decently performed. But there’s some cringe to the delivery for a lot of his lines. The guy can act, so this I have to attribute to the direction. Ditto for the actress playing Devra. I highly doubt that it’s her fault as an actor. It seems a directorial choice.
