Deep Dive: Film Threat's Assessment of 'Part One – A Child Of Fire'
Part One In the first part of Zack Snyder’s galactic epic Rebel Moon: Part 1, things get really crazy on the other side of the sky. A dynasty of 1,000 kings ruled a portion of the universe, ending when the last of its lineage was killed. On a farm on a remote planet, Cora (Sofia Boutella) is hard at work behind her plow. Her colleague Gunnar (Michael Huysman) oversees the grain harvest and seems to be having a lot of fun. However, their planet is invaded by Nazi-like space tyrants who are taking over civilizations or wiping them out in the memory of the slain king. At first, the villagers believe they could cooperate with Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein), the leader of the death squad that has landed. Kora warns them that the tyrants will take and take until nothing is left, but the villagers find out the hard way. Kora goes to flee the village but is waylaid when the invaders try to trap her and another village girl in a gang rape. Soon, Kora has to travel to the worst spots of her planet and beyond to recruit a band of outcasts and outlaws that can defend her village against the deadly dreadnaught. If you think you have heard this story before, think again.
First off, know going in that I am not a Snyder absolutist. I am underwhelmed by half of his work, though I am quite overwhelmed with the other half. Watchmen never got as interesting as its opening credits, and Army Of The Dead was a dud. However, Justice League: Justice Is Gray is possibly the most beautiful black and white movie I have ever seen, and I appreciate his dark slant on the Superfriends. So, while I was curious about Rebel Moon, I also wasn’t going to forgive any missteps.
So I spent the first 40 minutes looking for the dead parts. Everything looked subdued and understated, and the only grandiosity came from the uplifting soundtrack. Then Snyder does the same thing Lucas did in the cantina and whips the monster. Suddenly you get an idea of how far things are going to go. And every time there’s a big move, Snyder does the same thing Lucas did in the cantina and whips the monster. Suddenly we get an idea of how far we’ll venture. And Snyder expands the visual frame with each major movement. So instead of sprinting from beginning to end, Snyder’s screenplay, with Kurt Johnstad and Shay Hatten, climbs the ladder, digging deeper and deeper into its concepts. It’s a perfect example of what the great critic Quentin Crisp called the important diversity of tone.