With an added hour of running time, the new ‘Snyder Cut’ of Rebel Moon Part One does go some way to explain a lot of things from the original version that did not make sense.

I won’t get into any spoilers here, as the movie only came out a few days ago – but what I will say is the new opening scene and other flashbacks and sequences that have been added do help with the overall coherence of this often-panned project.

Of course, the over-use of slow motion and close-up shots were still there, with operatic strains heard constantly throughout the film. They could have cut back on some of these.

The special effects were alright – but nothing to get excited over. I did appreciate the world-building and thought that some of the wider, landscape shots of the planets and the designs that went into the towns and settlements were quite good.

The levels of violence and sex have been turned up a notch, and therefore the film now has an R-rating. A lot of it was gratuitous to say the least – way too much blood and nudity.

Another strange thing about this movie is that the title has now changed from ‘A Child Of Fire’ to ‘Chalice Of Blood’ – and I’m not sure why.

Overall, ‘Rebel Moon: Part One Director’s Cut – Chalice Of Blood’ is an improvement on the original; but the issues of plot direction, character motivations and a strange reliance on slow-motion and freeze-framing still persist.

It’s a pass – two and a half stars out of five from me.

Rebel Moon Part One Director’s Cut is currently streaming on Netflix.

All artwork and screenshots courtesy of Netflix.