Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver hasn’t matched the viewings of its predecessor film, but continuing the story in another medium could save it.
Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon series was heavily hyped before releasing on Netflix, and for good reason. Not only is the (sometimes controversial) director many times regarded as a visual master, but the movies were also part of a pitch that he had for a spinoff of the popular Star Wars franchise. Unfortunately, the films haven’t been particularly well-received, and Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver has a lower viewership compared to Rebel Moon – Part One, though another medium might be a better fit.
The general format of Rebel Moon and how its story is laid out isn’t conducive to a good movie, let alone a great series. If anything, it might work far better as a video game franchise, namely an RPG. Given all the ways that Zack Snyder planned to expand the franchise into something bigger, retelling the story in a video game format might be the best bet for Rebel Moon‘s success.
Rebel Moon: Part One’s Story Was Barely Coherent
A major issue with Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire and its sequel, Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver, is that both movies have poorly-told stories. This is especially the case with the first film, which feels more like half of a film or the first two episodes of a TV series. There’s no real logical throughline for the story, let alone a sense of peril or a true destination. It’s very much inspired by Star Wars and similar science fiction, but it fails to actually follow this formula and create a plot with a beginning, middle and final act.
This speaks to the general lack of writing quality in the films, but a change of format might have fixed this. If Rebel Moon had been in another, longer form medium, it could have added supplemental material to develop its cast and make the films’ stories complete. Another option is that these plots might only have been chapters in a larger whole. Perhaps more than any other medium, the video game format could have taken these “snippets” and made them into the beginning of the adventure. After all, that’s what the movies felt like in execution.
Rebel Moon Felt Like a Half-Hearted Attempt at a Video Game
Rebel Moon and its sequel are both ensemble movies that feature large casts of characters. This can be difficult to balance in movies, but films such as Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad, The Lord of the Rings and similar projects prove that it’s far from impossible. With Rebel Moon, there wasn’t a real sense of cohesion with the characters, who simply came together for the sake of action sequences down the line. At most, it was a poor attempt at emulating “parties” in role-playing games, which add and sometimes detract members from throughout those games’ stories. Thus, the best way to explain the incomplete nature of Rebel Moon: Part One‘s plot is that it’s merely the first few towns or chapters in an RPG with a sprawling, expansive storyline.
An ironic comparison is the Shenmue series of action/adventure games, which are also known for their RPG elements and attempts at cinematic storytelling. Though the visuals and overall world are there to look at and vaguely explore, there’s little depth to the series’ world or its story and characters. The worst example of this was Shenmue III, which was released several years after the first two came out. Despite the fact that fans had waited for nearly two decades for the follow-up, it did nothing to advance the series’ storyline and was essentially a “filler episode.” That’s exactly what Rebel Moon comes off as, with the movie failing to truly craft a full narrative by the time the credits roll. It doesn’t help that both franchises have several other planned entries, despite the lack of much interest from consumers.
Even though things somewhat improved in the second film, Rebel Moon still had all the weaknesses of a video game narrative without any of the strengths. It’s essentially a poorly-done video game adaptation for a video game that doesn’t actually exist. Putting the series into that medium, however, might have made things work. It would match the typical strengths of Zack Snyder, and it would also fit the obvious intentions of making the movie into an overarching multimedia franchise. Currently, the future of the Rebel Moon movie series is unknown, but the franchise does have a tabletop RPG and comic books. With these other mediums carrying narrative water for the franchise, remaking Rebel Moon as a video game could redeem Netflix’s biggest gamble.
How a Rebel Moon Video Game Can Fix the Story
There’s a lot of potential for Rebel Moon as a video game, especially since it would work best as either an action RPG or even a classic turn-based RPG. Elements that were lengthy sequences in the movie can become chapters and even worlds unto themselves in a game. Given how expansive and long modern RPGs are, gamers would likely be fine with the length such a game would take to complete. That’s especially the case if different characters have different play styles, keeping the game fresh and constantly evolving.
For instance, certain heroes might handle things similarly to characters from 3rd-person shooters and adventure titles, while others (such as Jimmy the robot knight) instead have a first-person perspective. Locking certain content or elements behind certain characters can also add a lot of replay value, especially if these aspects tie into those characters’ personal stories. The fact that certain elements will be “optional” to interact with also provides a more organic way of world building. Players will be free to choose how much of the world’s backstory they look into, with side quests and similar tertiary sections providing an extra bit of depth and nuance to the overall story and characters.
This recalls another video game series — Yakuza/Like a Dragon — the likes of which is essentially an evolved version of the Shenmue formula. These games have numerous side quests that allow Kiryu and other protagonists to interact with their wider world of people on the street. Such missions expand upon the goings-on of the city of Kamurocho and even provide further introspection into the minds of the main characters. Adding this to a Rebel Moon video game provides more content while rewarding players for slowing down and speaking to non-playable characters. Each section and planet will also be unique and have signature cultures and aesthetic aspects, similar to the archetypal elemental worlds (fire, ice, water, grasslands, deserts) of classic platformers such as Super Mario Bros. and similar video games.
When transplanted into a 3D environment, the closest comparison is the space-based adventure No Man’s Sky. Given Snyder’s eye for what looks good, this can be used to make for some interesting locales. By making each world and its aliens actually interesting and doing the same with the surrounding lore, this tentative video game can make fans care about the world of Rebel Moon, something that the movies have largely failed to accomplish. With how much the intellectual property is already expanding into other mediums, not to mention Netflix trying to hone in on video games, transplanting Rebel Moon into a playable adventure might be the only way for Zack Snyder’s true vision to be brought to life. Thus, what was a poorly-received movie series can become possibly the best action RPG experience on modern gaming consoles.
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire and Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver are now playing on Netflix.
