Time: 122 Minutes
Cast:
Sofia Boutella as Kora/Arthelais
Djimon Hounsou as Titus
Ed Skrein as Atticus Noble
Michiel Huisman as Gunnar
Doona Bae as Nemesis
Ray Fisher as Darrian Bloodaxe
Anthony Hopkins as the voice of Jimmy
Staz Nair as Tarak
Fra Fee as Regent Balisarius
Elise Duffy as Milius
Director: Zack Snyder

I was looking forward to Part Two of Rebel Moon, titled The Scargiver. Despite the very negative reception, I openly say that I enjoyed the first part of Rebel Moon, but I will admit that my opinion on it has shifted somewhat after thinking about it for some time. I liked the world and the potential, but you definitely feel that it was cut down to a shorter PG-13 version compared to the longer R rated version that director Zack Snyder had envisioned. Despite an undoubtedly much better version coming, I decided to watch Part Two on its release day and while it still has its issues, I enjoyed it.

For what it’s worth, Part Two holds up better after being cut down compared to Part One. The last movie was all about the setup and establishing the world and characters, so the shorter runtime definitely hurt it. Part Two however is a very straightforward movie. It doesn’t introduce any new characters that weren’t in the first film, and it mainly takes place on the home planet of Veldt as the characters prepare to defend themselves from the coming threat. On the one hand, its not as otherworldly and intriguing when compared to the last movie where the they travelled to different planets. On the other hand though, this straightforward story does work well. The first half is everyone preparing to fight. It’s a bit slower paced, and I know that some people got sick of the slow motion sequences of people farming, but I personally didn’t have a problem with it. The second half is pretty much the big battles, and it definitely delivered on the action. You also finally get to learn the backstories for the characters introduced in the last movie, but the cutting down of the scenes does still result in the characters still feeling a little thin, and the otherwise well done emotional scenes are usually undercut as a result. Without getting too into spoilers, The Scargiver ends on a note which sets up sequels, but at least concludes the main story consisting of part one and this.

Sofia Boutella returns as protagonist Kora and is again fantastic, delivering in both the action and the emotion, and you really buy into her character. Djimon Hounsou, Michiel Huisman, Donna Bae, Elise Duffy and Staz Nair are also good in supporting roles, some of them getting to do more here compared to the last movie (notably Hounsou). Ed Skrein is also once again one of the highlights as the main villain Atticus Noble. Noble is a straightforward and refreshingly uncomplicated evil villain and Skrein plays him very well, even though I think he got more chances to shine in the last movie.

This is undoubtedly a Zack Snyder film, and regardless of the differing cuts, if you weren’t into the style in Part One, Part Two isn’t going to change that for you. Fortunately, I was into Snyder’s style and his work in the last movie. I really enjoyed the visual style, and I like this world that Snyder has created. The action is quite entertaining, and in the second half it goes all out with the big battle sequences, with good stunts and some impressive visuals. Once again though, you can definitely tell that the level violence is toned down. Junkie XL’s score is pretty solid and makes many of the bigger moments even better, especially with regards to the action. 

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver still suffers from being noticeably cut down from its intended form, but is still decent with solid performances, impressive visuals, entertaining action scenes, and is overall better than its predecessor. I will say this, if you enjoyed Part One on any level, Part Two is worth checking out. If you haven’t watched Part One, but are intending on watching these movies, it’s probably worth waiting a bit longer for the no doubt superior versions. I am looking forward to the directors cuts and I have a feeling that they’ll fix most of the problems I have with these movies. It seems that Zack Snyder is planning on making more Rebel Moon movies, and if that’s the case I really hope that Netflix doesn’t once again artificially create a Snyder cut situation. Considering how they are trying to make this a franchise, releasing the watered down inferior versions is a sure fire way to make sure that it kills it before it begins.