Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood & Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness are pure unadulterated visually insane science fiction epics.
The legendary visionary Zack Snyder has much to say with his latest director’s cuts of his science fiction epic Rebel Moon. While the PG-13 versions of the films remain largely safe in terms of execution and release for public demand, the R-rated versions give you everything you may love (or hate) about what makes a Zack Snyder film wholly unique to his craft as a filmmaker. From a complete color regrade, plenty of F-bombs, intimacy, and more blood Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood & Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness feel far more complete and distinguished epics opposite their PG-13 counterparts.
Chalice of Blood
At a whopping 3 hour 24 minute runtime, the rebranded part one of this tale feels far more visceral and personal with the extra hour of material laced through it. The film’s beginning is vastly different from Child of Fire, positioning Admiral Noble as a much more brutal and fearsome antagonist. This opening scene also provides context for the young otherworld soldier Aris, and his origin of how he became on the side of the otherworld, providing a much more concrete reason why he turns on them to help protect Veldt. Far more backstory is provided for not only Kora but plenty of the other crew members such as Nemesis. The organic nature in which the group is assembled feels much better paced as opposed to planet-hopping with title cards for each world shown.
Curse of Forgiveness
While the second chapter of the two-parter only has an additional 50 minutes of footage and altered sequences, the result achieves a similar feat as its gorier first part. Kora’s interaction with the Rue Kali remains a standout visual feast and even leads to something to come down the line. Zack Snyder hinted as such during a recent interview that the operation of the Kali on the dreadnaughts is an oversight on the Imperium’s part. The final battle does not shy away from the bloodshed and violent nature of combat, and it also stands out as a beautiful showcase of Snyder’s ability to craft massive action. Zack Snyder also served as director of photography on this project, much like his previous Netflix entry, Army of the Dead. This gives the film(s) a personal feel to their quality in cinematography by quite literally, having the point of view capitalized wonderfully.
A King’s Gaze
The Director’s Cuts of Rebel Moon offers a more full concrete vision of what Zack Snyder intended to do with a science fiction universe. The dedication to the craft, the attention to detail among characters, the different worlds, weaponry artillery, and military might distinguish this realm from other Sci-Fi franchises like Dune or Star Wars. The world of Rebel Moon is full of potential by grounding the story with a good vs evil premise for the fate of a grain planet and adding in rich unique facets of the Imperium’s usage of people as history tomes, Kora a soldier turned rebel, or the morally gray nature of each character in either film the cinematic universe is ripe for expansion. Hopefully, Netflix greenlights the follow-ups, considering Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad have mapped plans for future installments.
Rebel Moon Chapter One – Chalice of Blood & Chapter Two – Curse of Forgiveness are now streaming on Netflix.