Seems heck of shame Netflix didn’t deign to give this a big-screen send-off, especially as it runs only a shade over two hours (that’s if you don’t count the 12 minutes of credits) and the battle scenes will look cramped however big a small-screen you possess. This was crying out for Imax. Plus, kudos to Zack Snyder for giving a 41-year-old actress the lead in a $200 million production. Could you imagine any major Hollywood studio backing that call?
Derivative for sure – what space/fantasy epic isn’t going to be? You can spot references to everything from Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones never mind Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven not to mention John Wick and for all I know Home Alone. But who cares?
It’s a blast even if the voiceover laying the groundwork is a bit turgid and the backstory complicated to say the least. So, we start in some kind of Viking-esque farming village where Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein) lands with troops, demanding tribute. He leaves behind a bunch of grunts to hold the fort till the next harvest comes in.
Kora (Sofia Boutella), a stranger taken in by the village, intends to skedaddle but is halted in her tracks by the screaming of a village lass being molested by the soldiers. She soon sets about them and having exacted revenge/justice (take your pick), realizes the Motherworld (the name of this universe/multiverse/whatever) will be back for revenge/justice so she heads off with callow villager Gunnar (Michiel Huisman) to recruit rebels.
There’s little as cosy as a Hobbit-like village from now on. And the world invented is less derivative than you might expect. Sure, the saloon they enter full of odd creatures has its origins in Star Wars and the gryphon has got to come from Game of Thrones, but even so, both sequences work out in more original fashion. But try to better the scorpion robots and you’ll come up short, and the sequence where another robot is given a crown of flowers takes some beating.
This is complex stuff. Kora’s backstory is incredibly complicated and some of her recruits show considerable empathy with creatures they encounter or are about to kill or enslave. The special effects are top class. And her gang seem worthy accomplices, down to the Han Solo type rogue Kai (Charley Hunnam), though given this is a truncated version of the four-hour edit director Zack Snyder has up his sleeve we’ll have to wait a bit longer to get a better grip of some of them, especially the Brother-Sister-Act Darrian and Devra Bloodaxe (Ray Fisher and Cleopatra Coleman) who lead the existing rebels.
Best introduction goes to swordswoman Nemesis (Donna Bae) who has to deal with a child-deprived outcast giant spider, but the long-haired muscle-bound Tarak (Staz Nair) runs her close in taming the gryphon. A former general turned gladiator (now that has a familiar ring) Titus (Djimon Hounsou) completes the team.
Given the complexity mentioned, you shouldn’t be surprised if the plot turns out to be a tad complicated, and the double twist at the end sets up part two nicely.
I have to confess I had to check out Sofia Boutella’s portfolio but I haven’t seen anything in which she was the standout and to be honest I don’t remember her from the unmemorable The Mummy (2017). So, as far as I was concerned (mea culpa) she was an unknown. But even if I had seen those various movies/ television roles I would still have reckoned Snyder was sticking his neck out casting her in this when there are already a host of bankable female stars (many of whom have made a point of kicking ass on screen).
She’s excellent in the role. Ed Skrein, who I do remember as being memorable in Midway (2019), is of the sadistic villain variety. I was less convinced I have to say by Charley Hunnam (Pacific Rim, 2013) but the rest of the cast passed muster.
Zack Snyder’s (Wonder Woman, 2017) career has been pretty hit-or-miss, especially when his final cut veers so wildly from that of his employers, and I can’t be the only moviegoer annoyed by this notion of announcing a Director’s Cut even before the cinema release is announced. The only Director’s Cut I ever thought worth the name and the trouble was Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven (2005), which added genuine depth, and was far superior to the original.
Worth a watch. And since Xmas favorites now include the likes of Die Hard (1988), this may well join that august group.
Catch it on Netflix.
The Magnificent 60s 