Watched this again yesterday but with the wife and the 3 kids. I liked it more on the second watch. Feels a bit rushed but still a good ride. I'm hoping the extended cut fleshes it out. For all the things it copies/homages, there are still some original ideas in there or maybe I just have seen them elsewhere.
I'm even more convinced the hate for it and "it's the worst movie" is pure bias.
I'll say it again, that there's nothing new under the sun. But what strikes me as relatively fresh... Just one for now:
Celts versus Romans?
I'm getting a vibe that Veldt is strongly inspired by the ancient Celts. The Imperium reminds me to some degree of ancient Rome, and the Celts were similarly at the outskirts of that vast and powerful Empire. By the time the Romans tried to colonize the British Isles, Rome had overextended itself by then in its insatiable lust for conquest. By then Rome had spread itself too thin. And the Celts were just a bit too far from the hub for Rome to successfully colonize them. So they held off the invaders. At that point in history anyway. They denied Rome its prize.
I think Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, and Shay Hatten probably pulled from that real world historical inspiration quite a bit. And I don't recall seeing that done in the sci-fi genre before. At least not off the top of my head... I trust others will point it out if I'm overlooking a sci-fi film that has done this quite as squarely before (if ever). But come to think of it, Braveheart tells a fairly similar story in a different genre, I guess. But that takes place later in history and it's significantly different from ancient Rome's encounter with the Celtic "barbarians." Plus Rebel Moon is taking a far more mythic approach in a fantastical setting, whereas Braveheart is a historical adventure film, featuring real historical figures.
Anyway, if this conjecture is correct this of course includes the story of Budica, an ancient Celtic queen who led a resistance that arguably succeeded over the long term to deny the Romans full conquest of the British Isles. That is, Kora is then to some extent inspired by Budica, at least in terms of her historical role. Last night my YT recommends feed gave me a decent documentary,
The Celts, that I feel asleep to (got most of it) that for me as a history buff is pretty enjoyable just on it's own. An easy 45 minute watch. I would recommend it if you have an interest in the subject. In fact watch it and then watch Rebel Moon.
And I do see parallels between the Celtic society and Veldt. For the most part, although not completely. There are some differences. For example, the Celts loved war and felt restless if they weren't fighting. That aspect is actually captured by the Imperium. It's like that sensibility was taken up by the ancient Romans, actually. Julius Caesar (our main source from antiquity about the Celts) wrote about how impressed he was with the Celt's warrior spirit. But he noted they lacked discipline and strategic ability. The Imperium feels like an unholy alliance of the Celtic warrior ethos with Roman military discipline and social order.
And I think Rome vs. Celts serves as a metaphor for some important themes about life today as well. The people of Veldt have a deep, sincere reverence for Nature. The Celts had a druidic religion that was based on it which has been lost to time. It's my own personal association perhaps, but think that's in some ways a metaphor for figuring out how to live life in a way that builds a stronger, healthier, eathier, more organic sort of connection between the conscious mind and the unconscious. (Important for artists like Zack.) I think we'll see more of that get developed through Jimmy's arc. Jimmy is essentially going to be a proto "druid" it looks like. Jimmy also has obvious Arthurian grail myth vibes. I think the concept of Issa, as a sort of primordial energy, is very much like how the ancient world conceived of the concept of "soul" or "psyche."
I remember when Star Wars released how excited and hopeful I was that it would run hard with the Jedi philosophy and really open that up and develop it. Like yes, please! Create a distinct New Age philosophy for us. That sounded fun based on the bare bones that it gave us. But instead ESB actually went in a much safer direction of a traditional adventure yarn.
I'm holding out hope that Rebel Moon will do some really innovative stuff with the relationship between what Veldt represents and the Imperium's use of technology. The neural network that the Imperium's religion uses to access astral planes looks frickin' wild. I want to see all that get developed. Fingers crossed that that might end up doing something fairly innovative.
