When the first installment in Zack Snyder’s STAR WARS-adjacent duology, REBEL MOON, hit Netflix late last year, I wrote:
It’s “space opera.” BIG, DUMB and LOUD. So many of the film’s machinations don’t make sense, and it often mistakes exposition for character development.
It’s a Zack Snyder movie, through and through. While it isn’t nearly as dark and gritty as we’ve seen from him in later years, it has SOOOOOOO many needless slow-motion bits.
And … I liked it. This first part kept me entertained throughout, and I’m looking forward to Part 2 (coming to Netflix in April). I’ve missed big dumb space opera. This movie doesn’t pretend to be anything other than big, stupid fun, and I respect that.
I had just enough hope that the things that made me enjoy A CHILD OF FIRE would carry through to the next film, and I’d find out in four months. Welp.
THE SCARGIVER spends the first ten minutes showing us why our heroine, KorArthelais, is a Tortured Protagonist, then the next 45 minutes giving us a massive pile of exposition on the remainder of the Magnificently Made-Up Seven. Literally, the first hour of this installment is a heapin’ helpin’ of talk. Oh, and a montage. Gotta have a montage, or this would turn into a sci-fi version of THE WEST WING… which I now must write a treatment and pitch deck for DON’T YOU PEOPLE RUIN THIS FOR ME.
I hate-watched the remainder of the flick, and was under the impression there was a third installment coming. Since Netflix is under new management (again), no one knows. Snyder has a lot of ideas, of course (he needs to talk with David Twohy about doing massive world-building, and not being able to fulfill the promise). I just don’t know if I’ll be around for it. I have a finite number of hours on this planet.
Closing out the weekend was the first installment of THE JINX, and unlike THE SCARGIVER, the thing actually delivered the goods. The pacing and informational drip in the episode was perfect, and Andrew Jarecki (and editor Zac Stuart-Pontier, who deserves more accolades than exist) have set the table for a truly must-watch true crime doc. With TOKYO VICE done, and SHOGUN wrapping tomorrow, it’s good to have at least one bit of destination viewing on the horizon (until THE ACOLYTE hits in June).