First Things First…
I watched this when it first came out. It seemed like it got panned, but I didn’t hate it. A lot of people just seem to have the pitchforks out for Zack Snyder no matter what he does. And while I find most of his DCEU lousy, I’ve liked other things he’s done. I didn’t love this, but I thought it was interesting. Let’s see where I’m at with it now…
6 Things I Like
6. Jimmy Breaks His Vow
This couldn’t be a Star Wars-influenced story without droids.
Enter Jimmy…
Jimmy and his brethren used to fight for the Motherworld. But they put down their weapons after Princess Issa was killed.
Jimmy explains this to Sam, a young woman whose kindness reminds him of his beloved princess—and whose beauty has caught the attention of a group of rotten Imperial soldiers and their sadistic Commander.
Luckily, there are a few good souls who help Sam, including a young soldier who appears to be the only good one in the bunch. But Jimmy, despite the peaceful nature he’s maintained for years now, shoots and kills the Commander.
He seems to be so shocked by his own actions that he freezes for a couple of beats, then drops his gun and runs away.
Like all the people who stay behind on Veldt when Kora and Gunnar leave, Jimmy isn’t really in the story after his early scenes. But I hope we catch up with him in Part Two to find out how this affected him.
5. Provincial Politics
This is also from the beginning of the movie. I like the scenes when Sindri, the “father” of the village, argues with Gunnar about how to handle the arrival of Admiral Noble and forces from the Motherworld.
Gunnar, who sold their surplus to the rebel Bloodaxes, which will not be looked upon kindly by the Motherworld, is naïve enough to think they can be real partners to these forces. Sindri knows better, but he’s naïve enough to think he can fool the Admiral into believing their land isn’t fertile and that they barely have enough food to feed themselves, and that he’d just leave them alone.
Kora is ready to run. She’s the only one who fully understands the gravity of the situation. They’re fucked either way.
But it’s these scenes that set the stage for the conflict to come, where we get to see how a small village on a moon on the outskirts of this empire will come to fight the Motherworld.
4. The Most Villainy Villain Who Ever Villained
Has anyone ever looked like more of a villain than Ed Skrein?
His Admiral Noble is a worthy villain for this saga. It’s interesting finding out at the end that he has a master, so it’s similar to the Vader/Palpatine dynamic (not that he’s on Vader’s level). But he’s the attack dog who’s out there in the field, with no qualms about hurting or killing anyone. He’s intimidating, because he has this calm, unflappable, almost soothing demeanor that gives way to sudden bursts of extreme violence, like when he drops Sindri where he stands and beats him to death.
He’s also more than a capable fighter. Granted, Kora whoops him at the end. But we come to learn that Kora is the most unstoppable fighter in the entire empire. That doesn’t take away from Noble’s ability to beat, presumably, almost anyone else.
We also see at the end that Noble is arguably more machine than man. The rebels leave him for dead after they believe Kora has killed him, but his body is brought back, hooked up to a lot of wires, and given who knows what type of treatment to bring him back.
3. Kai’s Ruse
Man, I’ll always love Charlie Hunnam because of Sons of Anarchy. I so wanted him to be a good guy here. When he starts talking about trying to regain his honor and leave behind his life as a thief, and when he gets flirty with Kora, he’s totally charming.
But even though he never fully threw me off the scent that he might be double crossing them, his ruse works because of how smart it is.
Not only does he realize Kora’s true identity as the most wanted fugitive in the empire, but he uses the opportunity to put together a team as a way to gather a few more wanted rebels.
Kai delivers Darrian Bloodaxe, one of the insurgent siblings who Noble is hunting in the first place…
He delivers the fabled General Titus…
And he delivers Prince Tarak and Nemesis, two more notable rebels.
Granted, the plan backfires in the end. Only Darrian Bloodaxe is killed, while the rest all escape. But the plan for bringing Noble the most valuable fugitives is solid.
2. Gathering the Team
This goes hand in hand with Kai’s ruse, because he’s the one who brings Kora to these potential fighters/fugitives. And I really like these scenes.
One criticism I’ve seen of this film is that its storytelling is too episodic. That’s especially true with these scenes, but I like how it plays out.
In some ways, it’s a bit of a mess. We keep meeting these new characters we know nothing about. But I find this method of storytelling makes these scenes more memorable.
There’s Tarak squaring his debt with that bastard who has him shackled by breaking his hippogriff… I mean, his bennu…
There’s Nemesis killing Harmada, the giant spider lady…
There’s rescuing a drunken General Titus from the gladiator pits…
And there’s Darrian Bloodaxe’s rousing speech to his followers.
These are the scenes I remembered best from watching the movie over a year ago, and I think they’ll stay the scenes I think of when this movie comes up.
1. Building a New Sci-Fi World
Is this world derivative?
Yes.
Have we seen so much of what Zack Snyder is going for here done better in other stories (namely Star Wars)?
Yes.
Do I care?
No.
It doesn’t matter if I’ve seen droids, weird creatures, a variety of worlds, rebels, and evil Empire, or any of this stuff before. I still enjoyed this world for what it is. It’s fun hopping from world to world, seeing how each is different from the last, meeting new races and getting different vibes each time.
3 Things I’m Mixed On
3. Now Is When She Has to Fight the Big Spider Lady?
I already included our introduction to Nemesis, when she fights and kills Harmada, as one of the memorable scenes involved in putting the team together…
But I do have to question the timing of this fight.
Look at Tarak. When Kai brings Kora and Gunnar to recruit him first, it’s not like he just happened to be trying to ride the bennu at that precise moment. It only comes about because they set up a wager with Tarak’s owner, and this is what Tarak has to do to square his debt.
But when they go to recruit Nemesis, her fight with Harmada is obviously our way of seeing how deadly of a warrior she is. But this epic fight, against a monster that seems like it’s been terrorizing their land for quite some time, just happens to be imminent when they arrive. This is just a little too convenient.
2. Coward to Hero—or Just Limp Noodle
One of the fascinating tidbits about this movie is that both versions of Daario Naharis from Game of Thrones appear and even come face to face. The original, played by Ed Skrein, was slightly less handsome but incredibly charismatic. But he was recast with the dashing but less exciting Michiel Huisman.
I bring up their history because Huisman plays Gunnar, who saves the day after Kai has delivered the rebels into Noble’s hands.
Gunnar’s miscalculation about how to handle Noble when he arrives on Veldt in the beginning leads directly to Sindri’s murder. And while they don’t beat you over the head with the idea that Gunnar is a coward, he’s clearly in over his head compared to Kora and the rest of the crew.
So you can read this as a guy have a coward to hero arc. And if that’s how you prefer to see it, it makes sense for someone who is a good actor but who’s not so charismatic that he’ll overshadow the people around him to play the role.
I think that’s how I prefer to see it. But there’s also an argument to be made that Gunnar is just a limp noodle, and it makes no sense that he’s the one to save the day. I’d buy that, too.
1. Kora’s Backstory Needs Fleshing Out
We learn about Kora being orphaned as a child and taken in by her adoptive father. She goes through the academy, achieves great things, becomes a fierce warrior, and even becomes a bodyguard for Princess Issa.
Now, she’s hiding on Veldt, using a false name, and is the most wanted fugitive in the empire. And her father wants to crucify her for all to see.
There are a lot of blanks to fill in. And knowing that the sequel was coming to Netflix just months after this dropped, it’s okay that they didn’t provide all the answers here.
But it’s still worth noting that those are answers we’ll need eventually for this story to fully come together.
3 Things I Don’t Like
3. Why Put a Gun in Gunnar’s Hands?
Gunnar is only able to save the day because they leave him unrestrained, then give him the gun that plugs into the neck restraint and shoots a needle into the back of the prisoner’s neck. I’m not sure if it’s intended to kill the person, paralyze them, or knock them out. But either way, Kai—under the watchful eye of Admiral Noble—tries to force Gunnar to do this to Kora.
I understand the poetic justice he’s going for. Kora is a massive thorn in his side, and Gunnar is in love with her. But it’s just so dumb, no matter how much of a coward you still believe Gunnar to be, to take any chance with this at all. Especially when Kora is the most dangerous fugitive in the empire.
Come on, guys. Be smarter.
2. Underserved Rebels
Here’s the downside of the episodic storytelling…
Once it’s not a specific character’s time to shine, they don’t have much to do.
Hopefully that will change in Part Two, when the remaining rebels fight side by side against the Motherworld. But here, it’s disappointing that Tarak does a lot of standing around after he’s freed from his shackle.
Same goes for Nemesis after she joins the team. Titus is picked up even later. And Bloodaxe not only joins last, but he’s the one who is killed. And he seems awesome prior to that. Ray Fisher is a good actor, and I enjoyed him for the brief time he’s on screen.
I’d like to see all of them who are still there get their due next time out alongside Kora and Gunnar.
1. The Snyder Style
I’m not one to go crazy over stylistic choices like these, but I have to admit, all the slo-mo that gets integrated into the action scenes is pretty annoying. Doesn’t matter if it’s a shootout, hand to hand combat, or Tarak’s flying adventure, it’s a style I’ve come to dislike.
Add to that some of the backgrounds that look so obviously fake, and it can take me out of the movie for a few moments.
Tim Matassa
