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A little over a year ago I was raving about S.S. Rajamouli’s epic Indian movie RRR. To say the film was over blown is an understatement, with repeated use of slow mo, grandiose imagery and characterisation bordering on the ridiculous as well as a total disregard for realism in the audacious action scenes. Yet it was undeniably brilliant, with a conviction to cinematic storytelling that is simply unparalleled. It was clear then, as now, that it had a style that would just not have worked had it been made in almost any other country.

Well it is certainly clear now as Zack Snyder’s new film shows. Rebel Moon: Part One is not exactly the same kind of film as RRR but it shares its desire to present people on screen with an all defining commitment to either earnest heroism or extreme villainy and to frame them with meticulously designed shot composition at every possible turn. It similarly uses slow motion, oh my god does it use slow motion and it attempts to be a great, epic adventure yet at every turn it fails almost as completely as Rajamouli’s movie succeeds. What was spectacular in one film just becomes tedious in the other.

Part of the problem is the cliché. There is no denying that RRR wandered toward this in places and but it owned it in a way that Rebel Moon just doesn’t. There is an engaging story buried in Synder’s movie somewhere but every moment is painfully undermined by something corny and impossible to take seriously. It is heavy on narrative contrivance, there are multiple character moments that do not even come close to being earned and the story has nothing new to base itself on.

This last point is no throw away comment either; this film literally leans on one of the most over played and repeatedly remade tales in cinema history. I won’t tell you which for fear of robbing you of the head in hands moments I experienced when I realised where it was going. I will tell you that it isn’t A Christmas Carol, mores the shame, but it is one that has already been done seven times before (which is actually an appropriate number), across several genres and various languages. Snyder has always been better when adapting existing sources, see 300 and Watchmen (though not any of his films with Superman), but surely he could have found something less tired that this.

This guy does have an eye for framing that exceeds most other directors’ but he is definitely getting high on his own supply here and his use of visual language is becoming cheesy and laboured. The fact that he slows the camera down to linger on the action at almost every turn most certainly doesn’t help and sometimes the pictures seems to be for there own sake rather in service of the plot.

As much as I lost patience with Avatar: The Way of Water, which was last Christmas’ unwanted gift, James Cameron’s creature design is great. In this film it seems to extend to putting a mask on a horse. There is another animal whose look goes a bit further but anyone who has seen the Harry Potter movies won’t find this very original and like in Cameron’s film, apparently not being humanoid doesn’t stop them understanding all elements of human speech, which is as stupid here as it was there.

Unfortunately, like Avatar this is also intended to be part of a series but I wouldn’t recommend getting on board. It is no secret that the origin of this film was a pitch Snyder made to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy in 2012 around making a more adult Star Wars movie. It’s not hard to see why she turned him down because the film is rubbish. You can still see the influence of George Lucas’ work, even beyond the fact that Snyder kept the lightsabers in, and this guys version of ‘more grown up’ evidently just means ill-natured and twisted.

If anything the established sci-fi property this feels most suited to is Mystery Science Fiction Theater 3000. I’d love to see the three players in that series ripping into this because they would have lots to say.

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The Ripley Factor:

The protagonist in the film is a hardened battle ready female ex-soldier who gets drawn back to a life of violence when the Evil Galactic Empire (TM) extends its reach to the outer rim settlement she has escaped to. Once again, there is nothing new in this. Sure she’s got the Ellen Ripley factor but she’s Sarah Connor, Rey, Jyn Erso, Gamora, Imperator Furiosa, Zoe Washburne and Michael Burnham too.