Rebel Moon Part 1 is titled The Child of Fire, and there’s a hell of a lot to talk about, with not only a sequel coming but also an extended version. Yep, they’re doing another Snyder cut, but I kind of feel like this is a marketing ploy purely by the studio. Has it backfired?
Well, the reviews aren’t looking good, and honestly, it is kind of difficult to review myself knowing that a longer and potentially better version that sorts out the issues and this is dropping soon makes it weird to talk about from a critical point of view.
Snyder said that his version is a completely different movie and that he wanted the R R-rated cut to be his. It’s kind of weird knowing this isn’t what Zach intended, and there’s already been a bit of damage control. It’s been said it’s all tied up in what Netflix wants to release first.
Rebel Moon Part 1 Explained
Now, as with the old sci-fi epic, a lot of laws and things to unpack. Inspired by elements of Dune and Star Wars, snot is a crafted galactic-spanning tale. A long time ago, in a Galaxy far, far away, we learned of the mother world, which had a royal bloodline that was so lustful for power that it consumed all the planetary sources. Sending its army into space, they attempted to conquer all.
However, this need for power caused the subjects to rise up. Both the King and Queen were killed along with their daughter, but we’ll talk about how that might not be the case later on.
By the way, there were whispers of revolution in the outer world, and a senator named Balisarius saw power in the vacuum. Now a region, he set out to renew the empire’s strength through his loyalist follower, Admiral Atticus Noble. His one mission is to crush the rebels.
This is where we meet Kora, a farm girl on the planet Velt. We learned throughout the film that Kora was once part of The Imperium, but that she crash-landed on the planet and has been lying low ever since. With nobles and noble quests out in the stars raging on, we see this event, where she takes into Velt.
Noble is currently hunting a group known as Clan Blood Axe, and he demands supplies in order to continue the mission. The people of Velt live on a fertile and rich planet.
Beating the villager’s Leader father, Sindre, to death, Noble tells Gunnar that he has ten weeks to have supplies ready. Gunnar started believing that they could be partners, and he dropped Sindri in it by bragging about how much they had. Gunnar saw this as an opportunity, but all they cared about was conquest and power.
Kora’s Story
Kora just wants to keep her cover and lie low, but Noble leaves some soldiers behind to make sure there’s no funny business. Amongst these is a Droid who comes to be known as Jimmy, and he comes from a long line of Robotic Knights. Ever since their king was killed, they refused to fight. But when it comes to Sam, he starts to intervene.
This might be a clue as to who Sam is, but he tells us of the King’s and Queen’s daughter, who was known as a redeemer and was seen as a person who could save the mother world, known as Isa. Isa resembles villager Sam, which leads to Jimmy spouting off about her.
We discover that Kora was once her bodyguard. After her world was taken by The Imperium, she was raised by Balisarius and turned into a warrior. She never knew why he spared her life, but she did go to pull the trigger on him, so perhaps he saw strength. I think we will learn more about him in Part 2.
Kora says she felt guilt over the assassination, and that’s the reason that she fled. In the end, she sees some soldiers assaulting Sam and smashes them. Jimmy comes in and stands up to his masters, leaving just the soldier Aris, who stood up to them, too.
Kora Forms The Band
At this point, they head out to Providence in order to do a Seven Samurai. Making their own band of warriors, they start to assemble a cast of characters that can help out in the fight against Noble. Some characters come in and are taken out as fast as they arrive, and you really wonder if they were even needed at all. Obviously, I’m guessing these will get more room in the extended cut, and it would feel a bit less breakneck.
They then go to what’s basically Rebel Moon’s most icy cantina, which is where they’re seeking info about a character named Titus. Played by Djimon Hounsou, he’s a former Imperium general who, just like Kora, is rebelling against the rulers. Noe, the cantina’s Kai, played by Charlie Hunnam, is basically your Han Solo of Rebel Moon. There’s also Tarak, who can bond with animals.
My favorite character is Nemesis. Though her weapons are getting compared to lightsabers, I think they do enough with them to distance her, and she’s probably the standout character design-wise.
Leaning heavily with the samurai influences the way she shoots, just leaping off the screen. It has to be said that, as usual, that’s one of Snyder’s greatest strengths, and watching her slicer Peter Parker’s Wet Dream Woman is a good standalone scene.
The score is also in a really similar vein to Batman V Superman, so hey, if you like that, you’re gonna like this too. At points, I even thought it might be that, but it’s such an amazing soundtrack I didn’t mind it at all.
Ending Explained
In the end, a meeting is brought together with the Clan Bloodaxe, which is headed up by Darian and Deborah. Darian and his half of the clan agree to help, whereas Deborah sees it as just being a loss.
Anyway, Kai is betraying the rebels after he says that he has to drop off some cargo. We discovered that Kai’s home was ravaged by the Imperium, and he’s seen firsthand how deadly they are.
Captured, Noble riffs off the famous band of rebels and realizes that Kora is the Scar Giver. This is when Gunnar is ordered to execute Kora, but instead, he frees her.
Now, the battle isn’t without its losses either, as Darian gets killed during it. Thus, I think his sister is going to step up to the mark and avenge her Brother in Part 2. Kora also goes toe to toe with Nobel, and he seems to fall to his Death. However, we later see Nobel’s body recovered, and he’s surrounded by the red priests that we’ve seen throughout the film.
I don’t know if this is a nod to Dungeons and Dragons, but they’re doing something that looks like it could be necromancy. Either way, it leads to him being in conference with Balisarius, who demands Kora to return to him. He says that he wants to execute her, and if Noble fails, he’ll be the one who gets it.
Atticus then wakes up with his orders clear, and though he’s been given another chance at life, we don’t know how long that will be, and man’s on borrowed time, too. It makes me wonder if he is still alive, and this is how the machine manages to bring him black. The guy is definitely dead, but this, like her powers, has a resurrection.
As for Kora and Co, they head to Val, which is where we catch Jimmy now rocking antlers. The war is coming, and they need to get ready as the sequel is going to be dropping in April. They say it would have been a beautiful place to die. It would have, but we’re not bloody gonna die.
Teaser Explained
There’s a teaser on Netflix that pops off immediately after, and though I can’t get a copy of it, I can bloody describe it. As the villagers train and get ready for a fight, we also see the generals pass at the battle playing out. Darian shows up in it, too, but I feel like this moment with the prior one is purely a flashback. They also give the idea that Sam is skilled as well. And again, I do start to suspect if she’s actually Isa.
Jimmy did say that she shared a resemblance, and maybe Kora fled with her and faked her death. She was her bodyguard, and she was, of course, carrying the bloodline. And I wonder if she’s hiding and will come back and lead in the future.
Jimmy is also really shaking himself out of his apathy. So perhaps seeing her, you know, he just drew the connections. That would make sense about why he turned against his masters as he was trying to protect Sam, who could potentially be Isa.
