On Netflix, “Rebel Moon 2: The Hacker”, still as kitsch

After defeating Admiral Noble at the end of the first “Rebel Moon”, Kara and her companions returned to the village of Veldt. The young woman, formerly a soldier and obedient to the same master as Noble – the regent Balisarius, at the head of the Mother World, a totalitarian galactic empire -, recruited a small troop from across the cosmos in order to protect the town, which the military wanted to plunder. But once morest all odds, Noble survived, and now he wants revenge…

Released just before Christmas 2023 on Netflix, the first part of “Rebel Moon” revealed itself to be a surprising cross between the Star Wars saga and “The Mercenaries 7”. There we came across spaceships, aliens, gladiators, Nazi-looking villains, a galactic empire, and even a flying creature that we would have thought escaped from an “Avatar”…

A vast catch-all for a story that is ultimately quite basic, but which director Zack Snyder, a fan of large formats, has split into two parts, the second of which is available from this Friday, April 19.

We find all the heroes and their adversaries from the first part

If you liked the first one, you won’t be surprised by this sequel, where we find all the heroes and their adversaries, even if Djimon Hounsou gains a little momentum, while Ed Skrein benefits from less time of presence. The scenario, however, remains touchingly naive, Snyder overusing pastoral skits, pre-battle speeches and cries of victory. A princess even appears, whose usefulness does not seem obvious until the conclusion of the film refutes this diagnosis.

But the most surprising thing are these retro-futuristic elements introduced throughout the plot, the villagers defending themselves, for example, with high-tech weapons as well as single-shot fireballs, the military shuttles seem to be spinning fuel given the black smoke they let escape, the pinnacle being reached during a sequence in the bowels of the villains’ spaceship: in the engine room, we see men shoveling coal to fuel the reactors!

Stop laughing, and as long as we agree to let ourselves be carried away by the action, which gets carried away once the first half of the film is over, the spectacle turns out to be pleasant, with its count of valiant deaths and explosions. and special effects that amaze you. And for those who find that all this is still a little soft, Zack Snyder announced, even before the release of his latest opus, that he was already working on long versions of the two “Rebel Moon”, with more violence and sex!

Editor’s note: “Rebel Moon, Part II: The Slasher”,

American science fiction film by Zack Snyder, with Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman… 2h03. On Netflix.