Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire | Official Trailer

In 2021 Zack Snyder brought us his epic cut of the film Justice League - and legitimately challenged the dominance of the Avengers film franchise in the process. Maybe you’re wondering what Snyder has been cooking up for us since then? Turns out, his next film will give the Star Wars franchise a run for its money: Rebel Moon has been percolating in Snyder’s mind for decades, as he explains in his engaging breakdown of the film’s latest trailer. It’s currently a two-part (more to come?) sci-fi space opera with Part One: A Child of Fire coming December 22nd, and Part Two: The Scargiver on its way in 2024.

There are many characters, supernatural creatures, and special effects and much space travel in Rebel Moon, and its two trailers so far have both clocked in over the industry standard, at over 3 minutes in length. Let’s break down the music and sound in its Official Trailer, released on November 12th.

This trailer jumps right in, with a close-up of a hand trailing across gravel, as a voiceover recounts the backstory of main character Kora (Sofia Boutella). A mournful tone, almost human, slides across a few notes and echoes away. After the voiceover’s first phrase, at 0:05, we hear a short riser into a potent combination of high-pitched bell tone and low-pitched distorted BRAAM-esque tone on synths. The synths give way to sustained tones from mid-range strings at 0:12, then we hear a sliding vocal tone similar to the mournful opening notes, but clearer this time, as though the first voice represented Kora as an infant and this second voice presents her as an adult. The musical elements are subtle thus far, one instrument or gesture at a time, leaving space to develop.

On-screen starting at 0:13, unexpected spaceships arrive in Kora’s community. A gnarly synth utters a menacing musical phrase at 0:18 as we see her running to the village. Synched with Kora striking a tubular bell at 0:20, the same sliding tone phrase we’ve heard twice already returns, this time sounding as though it is coming through Jimi Hendrix’s guitar amp. Kora knows that the new arrivals are a threat, and after she succinctly says so at 0:28, this trailer’s music is let off its leash. Massive drums pound out a segue into a full-blown, Carmina Burana-esque choral thunder, accompanied by distorted hard rock guitar chords. To show us what kind of danger the intruders bring, a violent blow from their leader Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein) is synched to the beat for emphasis.

The music comes to a halt at 0:52 as Kora shouts “Stop!” and for the next 18 seconds, we take a page from classic martial arts scoring and sound design, whereby the music drops out and the sound design of the fight sequence is given full sonic prominence. Kora obliterates the invading troops single-handedly, and as she fires her last shot at 1:10, the music returns, this time building into a cinematic cover of T. Rex’s 1972 glam rock hit “Children of the Revolution.”

Like other recent trailers that use recognizable covers (for example check out our blogs on The Bikeriders and Reptile), the song form here is remixed to suit the purposes of the trailer’s storyline. This includes, for example, a cut to silence at 1:32 when we meet Kai (Charlie Hunnam), and again at 1:52 when we meet General Titus (Djimon Hounsou). The segue into the chorus is well-timed, as we hear Kora explain “This isn’t just pursuit of revolution” directly before the “Children of the Revolution” chorus enters at 1:59. The song’s title hook is sung three times before giving way to an extended sequence of “trailer triplets” and cutting to silence (from 2:14-2:31) to help keep us on the edge of our seats.

It’s a tall order to step into the realm of cinematic space opera nearly half a century after George Lucas wrote the playbook for the genre. If anyone can do it, it’s Zack Snyder, and this trailer demonstrates his capabilities in the genre while integrating elements of epic film aesthetics ranging from Gladiator, Avatar, and Avengers to classic martial arts.

Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire lands on Netflix December 22.

— Jack Hui Litster