Currently streaming on Netflix, "Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire" introduces us to the Dream Society that approaches justice and peace. It is a self-sufficient community where the crops flourish through collective efforts, creating an abundance for its compassionate and supportive inhabitants.
Despite a siege imposed by the "Mother Planet," the Dream Society manages to donate its surpluses to a distant planetary resistance striving to free itself from a colonizer greedy for the Earth's resources to feed his army. Determined to conquer the lands, the oppressing force encounters a resistance movement spreading like wildfire sparked by a mysterious young girl.
Director Zack Snyder paints a story that closely mirrors the transformation of kind-hearted farmers into valiant resistors defending their land. "Rebel Moon" presents a cinematic prophecy of resistance triumph and unveils the state of a society or a global condition, hinting at the features of a world being reshaped by a handful of resisters.
Snyder chose a very broad framework for his clear idea in the film, which is the first part of a series that has been in the making for decades, set in the vast, infinite universe.
The heroes of "Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire" (IMDb)
Snyder, not content with a single world, galaxy, or even several galaxies, presents an Earth-like drama we witness daily. Our world is divided into small and large nations with immense capabilities, perpetually clashing for control, plundering resources, and imposing sovereignty and influence.
While the concept has been exhausted in hundreds of prior films, whether in their simplest form involving struggles between strong and weak individuals, or conflicts between entities, worlds, and galaxies reminiscent of the "Star Wars" series, Snyder insists on situating his work within the science fiction genre, often echoing motifs from these earlier works.
"Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire" tells the tale of a peaceful colony on the galaxy's edge under threat by the armies of a tyrannical ruling power. The mysterious outsider Kora (Sofia Boutella) living among the villagers becomes their best hope for survival. Kora is charged with the mission to locate skilled fighters who will join her in an impossible stand against the oppressive power, assembling a small group of odd warriors, rebels, peasants, and war survivors from different worlds united by a common need for salvation and vengeance.
Fragments of a Dead World
Snyder's universe, familiar for his science fiction films, is a nightmarish vision of a world primitively inclined, despite patches of technology, especially in the realm of armament. It is an overt manifestation of political and social injustice, though a small area tries to implement values of justice and equality among its members. It is also a universe resigned to a substantial kingdom or state named in the film as the Mother Kingdom, save for some pockets of resistance that are inevitably defeated.
The plot of "A Child of Fire" is a tale repeated hundreds of times: the story of one who embarks on a journey to gather warriors, resistors, or heirs – encountering horrors and engaging in battles that ultimately reflect on their larger war.
Nevertheless, the creators have managed to form a depiction of a peaceful village that cultivates the land with the hands of its people, governed by a beloved figure chosen by its residents, which garners the viewers' sympathy.
Conversely, forces from the "Mother Planet" invade the village's territory, killing its leader, followed by one of the soldiers attempting an assault on a young girl. This significant event compels the viewers to stand against the technologically advanced invading forces.
The introduction to "Kora," the enigmatic stranger played by the French-Algerian actress Sofia Boutella, begins the audience's alignment. She delivers the air of mystery surrounding her origins and story successfully, although her dialogue lacks vigor, feeling more like a regurgitation of lines rather than a conveyance of content.
In addition to Sofia with her real Algerian roots, one of the central revolutionary characters against the tyranny of the Mother Kingdom is "Tariq," an Arab rebel choosing to fight among the resistance ranks. British actor Staz Nair portrays him with notable dynamism.
Snyder returns the audience to the beginning of Kora's story as the child discovered and raised by a general who educates her in the art of war. She became the guardian of the princess, but the same general turned against his king, ruling the cosmos with iron and fire. Kora rebelled against him in turn and took refuge in a peaceful and resisting community.
Borrowed Movement
In his film, Snyder implicitly acknowledges the dominance of the law of the jungle in the world or the cosmos, where the stronger always prevail. The film combines the various races we know on Earth and presents other creatures from his imagination that resemble humans in behavior but amalgamate human and animal features.
The creators set no standards for the appearance or behavior of these beings. The peak of creative endeavor in diverse forms might be attributed to director James Cameron in the first installment of "Avatar," who presented specific environmental specs to biologists and botanists. They then proposed animal varieties that could inhabit and adapt to those specs, as well as the specifications for the trees that appeared in the film, giving "Avatar" a cohesive environment, unlike Snyder's film, which introduces monstrous creatures without justification.
The "action" sequences in the work, particularly in the grand war battles that settled the conflict, appear almost borrowed from the various "Star Wars" series, though the intervention of "Kora" in the first part of the work to defend the girl from the assaulting colonial soldier stands out as a notable addition.
Snyder did not settle for presenting a distorted version of the Star Wars series but decided to portray a different space altogether, resorting to exaggeration in everything. The simple and peaceful state was reminiscent of locations where Christ's teachings were delivered in films depicting his life, albeit equipped with sliding electronic doors, and the houses' interiors were cluttered, only punctuated by lights.
The weapons, only slightly evolved, showed the pistol slightly larger, the flying saucer known from films and some media legends transformed into a median form between an aircraft and a flying saucer. The grand battlefield spanned infinitely among the galaxies, with the backdrop resembling an indistinct, shaky image.
"Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire" is an inauspicious series start that may falter if its creators do not realize that originality is the crucial element for artistic success.
