Rebel Moon - Netflix sci-fi

[Big Insect]

Well ... hmmmmm ... yes ... not quite what was expected I'm afraid.
Much hyped and promoted on the web, but sadly a bit of a damp quib IMHO.

A 2nd rate cross between - Seven Samurai, Star Wars and (dare I say it ... sue my why don't ya) Games Workshop 40k! In fact, I suspect that if GW hasnt already got a license to make the figures I'll eat my sombrero!!!

But it is soooooo sloooooow and that is not just the plot line - just about every action gun-fight & battle scene is in slow-mo (yawn). It is also so terribly predictable and full of the worst stereotype casting you can possibly imagine - even the aliens are starting to get type cast      .  The bad bountry hunter types = Orcs from 'Bright' etc. (maybe even the same prosthetics!). It also has just about every bit of 'virtue signalling' possible ... right down to the 'noble savage redman'. Then there is the lazy typecasting of characters, the inscrutable oriental swords-mistress, the crew cut - nazi looki-likey indestructable villain - plus the brutal white south-african soldiers, noble salt of the earth farmers ... etc etc etc.

All the tech, weapons & armour is straight out of 40k - right down to the 'dreadnought' space ship, the rebels speeder type fighters, all the large shouldered body armour and the huge blasters. Let's also not mention the Adeptus Mechanicus look-a-like Imperial science and religious corps     

Oh and just to make things even more frustrating ... this is only part 1!!! And the trailer for part 2 just about gives away a whole load of unresolved plot-lines from part 1.

Let's also leave aside the improbable astrophysics (moons around large gas giants with breathable atmospheres and no gravitational fluxes or massive radiation issues) but that is also almost straight out of Star Wars (innit).

I must admit I did approach Rebel Moon with a degree of trepidation. Star Wars is a hard act to follow, and the recent Disneyfied offerings have been weak and getting weaker by the release ... but this certainly isn't going to be a replacement. I stopped watching half-way through and went off to paint some figures and watched the rest the following morning ... but it hadn't got any better overnight sadly.

Very much a 5/10 at most from me I'm afraid.

[Steve J]

Well my wife watched it and myself parts thereof, with me having fun predicting the plotline (very easy) and spotting bits' they'd referenced (or stolen ) from other films, periods etc. Even my wife was getting bored by the end, despite some very nice visuals, special effects etc.