Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver Review

Medium: Movie

Release date: 4/19/2024

Review date: 4/20/2024

Score: 4/10

I went into this movie with the lowest possible expectations, which “Rebel Moon Part 2: The Scargiver” managed to exceed, so well done there. “Rebel Moon Part 1” was genuinely incomprehensible, and so “Part 2” here makes the bold choice of dialing that back in lieu of logical plot progression, which is admirable. Now don’t get me wrong, none of the character moments and growth feel earned in this movie; but unlike” Part 1,” “Part 2's” character moments and growth just felt rushed and like they were missing some buildup, not, again, like they were made up on the spot. Having pretty much wrapped up all of the universe building exposition by “The Scargiver's” first 10 minutes and then locking the movie's setting essentially to one planet allows the film's events to flow in a way that sidesteps the jarring and bewildering pacing and editing of the first movie - Djimon Hounsou actually gets to do things in this entry, which is exciting. I forgot to highlight him in my review of “Part 1,” but Ed Skrein does a wonderfully campy job as the duology's antagonist Admiral Atticus Noble, with him really seeming to relish his role as a space sociopath. “Rebel Moon Part 2” is again too long like its predecessor, and spends the majority of its runtime either in the buildup to the big battle, where all the good guys and the villagers are running around harvesting wheat, or the big battle itself, which runs for pretty much the entirety of the back half of the movie. It was a choice to spend so much time focused on the wheat and the harvest, with the bad guys seemingly having a very real need for the farmers' crop, and the movie only really has them abandon that goal by the end of the movie, but I do actually kind of like the decision. It was an odd choice, but a unique one, and one that I think makes “The Scargiver” stick out in ways its predecessor didn't. Full disclosure, I was so completely taken off guard by this movie not being a complete mess like “Part 1” that I actually found myself rooting for it by the end. Is “Rebel Moon Part 2: The Scargiver” good? No! But it is sure a lot better than “Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire,” which is worth acknowledging.