Last Updated on August 31, 2024 by
I watched both Rebel Moon director’s cuts for this review, now subtitled Chapter One: Chalice of Blood and Curse of Forgiveness, which is Chapter Two. By far, the extension is present in the first movie, with the overall runtime increasing to just below three hours and thirty-seven minutes. As a result, the plot and the narrative structure of the films stayed quite similar, with the added footage consisting of twenty minutes added to the beginning of the first movie, more blood, and a fully nude sex scene in both films, the changed order of the village training and the harvest sequence with one part shifted to the first movie, several expanded flashbacks. I even sat to compare the original cut with the extended version just to see where changes are most of the time and I was quite shocked about some of the peculiar choices that Zack Snyder made on what parts of the movie to include in either version. To my disappointment, the extended cut was not helpful for me, and that is why I agree with the proverb longer and more explicit is not always better. It also shows that in between two versions of the two movies, some change is better than the other.
The core narrative remains the same: Kora (Sofia Boutella) is a fugitive of the Imperium and is now living disguised as a farmer on the moon of Veldt. After a sadistic Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) arrives at the village and kills their leader, Kora and Gunnar (Michiel Huisman) begin to rally and gather warrior to protect their home. In this film’s unrated version, there is a prologue with a soldier, Aris (Sky Yang), being recruited, which is connected to more scenes of the young man’s romance with Sam (Charlotte Maggi). Arguably, head bashing is seen mostly effectively, as well as a recurring motif of a piece made of teeth whose purpose remains uncertain. This dental MacGuffin reappears throughout all the director’s cuts with no hint of what it might be for other than to be sadistic and weird. A lot of what’s new does feel that way – most of it consists of laser blast demises in the theatrical version with added spurts of blood that paint the slow motion frame as if Pollock has created them. One also notes balletic explosions of skulls that take place no less than fifty-five times in the two movies. The first few were gruelling, but by the time one reached double digits, they became clichéd. This cut is filled with stabbings, throat slitting, and plenty of artificial blood, which together make up the bulk of the extra minutes.
The film also cuts out almost all of Anthony Hopkins’s narration despite extra scenes inserted into the film that shows Jimmy collecting his new trinkets before the final confrontation. The extended cuts are beneficial for many secondary characters such as Titus (Djimon Honsou), Milius (Elise Duffy), Tarak (Staz Nair), and Nemesis (Doona Bae), most of whom get more scenes of their past in Chapter Two. Milius has shot and incorporated scenes where, in the original cut, she only discussed it. The other aspects incorporated into the Director’s Cuts are two scenes of hardcore sex and some nudity of women in the new beginning of the first movie. Both these scenes contain the actress Sofia Boutella. One is in the director’s cut when Kora and Gunnar are naked in bed after they have just slept together, but one feels very awkward and is in the first of the movies. It is well shot, though, as far as I am concerned, it does not seem to have any other intention apart from making women show some cleavage. The second striking difference between the films advertised in the Director’s Cut trailer is the living heart of the dreadnought ships. The only time the female face is seen is in the second movie at the end, and the only reference made to the ‘Kali’ is by the King (Cary Elwes), but these huge monstrous constructions are actually huge robot-like things that can also cry and talk, we see that in the extended cuts. It is a clever but still half-baked idea that is just thrown into the storyline rather unceremoniously. The same applies to the new scenes, which feature much more brutal and explicit bloodshed, as well as the development of Balisarius (Fra Fee)’s journey from a soldier to a dictator. A few years younger than Sofia Boutella, Fee never turns into the dark, menacing sidekick of a big villain that Zack Snyder tries to paint him as. However, it is quite evident that the attempt is made to emulate Star Wars and Emperor Palpatine.
Snyder does make several changes to the structure, particularly in the second chapter. These concerns entail shifting the training of the villagers to after-the-harvest sequences instead of using intercutting. That makes them feel rather sequential, but it also places much more emphasis on slow-motion imagery of wheat being cut, tied into sheaves and hauled back to the village. By the time I stopped counting, it was fifteen minutes, and there is, of course, lots of farming porn included in the movie. Therefore, in terms of the two hours that have been added to Rebel Moon, the most extended parts are the opening of both films, the new scene that closes the second film, two sexual scenes, and several flashback scenes. Together, these total about 60 minutes and seconds, cut from nearly all the gun fights and bullet kills to present blood splattering as a work of art. When comparing the two versions of each film, the viewers can easily notice that the first released ones are significantly more provocative. On the other hand, the Director’s Cut makes us to be submerged in bright red pixelated plasma.
Director’s cuts have been fashioned out as the actual versions filmmakers originally wanted to make, well, except for Rebel Moon as one got the feeling that the original versions were far much better than what Zack Snyder wanted. There is very little here which is an enhancement over what has gone before, save for the sex scenes and the exploding heads, which are simply gratuitous. If the book is viewed as two parts of a single story, then the first part has more power in the two-chapter framework. The movies are still based on the charming presence of Sofia Boutella and supporting rival factions in an outer space conflict that is not as clear-cut as it should be. Extra context of the mechanical beings that sustain the monstrous dreadnoughts, as well as the new epilogue, build more tales in the Rebel Moon world. However, it was more of an addition of shots in a film that could not afford to be any more bloated. The problem with the Rebel Moon director’s cut is that it taints the original cuts by forcing viewers to sit through six hours of stunning scenes to witness four hours of storytelling only.
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Rebel Moon: Director’s Cut Parents Guide Age Rating
Rebel Moon: Director’s Cut is rated R by the Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for language, sexual content, brutal, bloody violence, graphic nudity, and gore.
Violence & Gore: There are many violent scenes portrayed in the movie; cases of stabbing, throat cutting, and head bashing are observed. There are scenes of blood splatter being slow-motioned, thus making the violence all the more apparent. In more than fifty-five individual scenes, characters’ skulls burst apart, often in explicit ways. There are scenes of shooting lasers which cause bloody finishes off and killings. A ruthless Admiral brutally kills a village leader. One recurring theme is a piece made of teeth: it is often shown in various scenes with no evident connection, enhancing the overall creepy feeling of the show. When it comes to the extended scenes, the director’s cut adds more blood and violence to many fight scenes.
Sex & Nudity: The movie includes two explicit scenes where Kora, played by Sofia Boutella, appears with her genital area exposed. Several times, Kora and Gunnar are depicted naked in bed after making love. Another scene describes women naked at the start of the first movie and with sexual connotations. There are also other scenes with scenes of nakedness; this I think appears to be mere display of body rather than serving a functionalist purpose in the script.
Profanity: This film contains violence and intense action as well as strong language, even though the instances when specific uses of profanity are depicted are not cited in the summary, thus the R rating is pretty justified.
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Drugs substance is not mentioned in the entire movie. One would normally find clips featuring alcohol or smoking in any R-rated film.
Summary: The “Rebel Moon” director’s cuts are considerably rawer than their theatrical counterparts, including instances of frequent and intense violence, explicit nudity, sexually suggestive scenes, and extensive use of strong profanity. The films are best fit for mature and young adults because some scenes contain strong material that can be dangerous for the young audience. These aspects should be taken into consideration by parents before the children watch these films.
