Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon has arrived on Netflix and just a handful of theatres around the
globe, and after watching it, I think it's another visually-great film from the director,
but one that is ultimately quite disappointing in a lot of other areas.
When it comes to this first version of Zack Snyder's vision for Rebel Moon, I thought
the writing of characters specifically, was something that
was just lacking here, and for me, it deeply affected my connection to the storytelling
arc of the movie and the overall ambition to
make this a fresh take on the sci-fi genre from the films that inspired it.
Zack Snyder's visual direction, worldbuilding and the lead performance by Sofia Boutella,
are really the only things that I confidently enjoyed after
seeing it, and I just hope that the longer director's cut is one that improves the other
parts of the film too.
I personally love a lot of Zack Snyder's previous films and I think
he's given us some absolute classics throughout his career.
But when it comes to Rebel Moon, I think this had the potential to be so
much better.
So in this video, I'm going to be listing the main reasons why I think Rebel Moon Part
1 was a flawed science fiction epic, but one that could be fixed by the upcoming
second part, or that hard-r director's cut that Zack Snyder has recently spoken about.
Before I get into it though, if you want to keep up to date on any of my future content
on director-driven films like Zack Snyder's Rebel
Moon, then don't forget to support this upload by giving it a like rating, subscribing to
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But without further a do, lets dive into my thoughts on Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child Of
Fire.
So when it comes to Zack Snyder, you'll know that more than most, I've liked or really
enjoyed a lot of his films.
Man Of Steel is one of my personal favourite comic book films,
I thought the director's cut of Justice League was great, and films like Watchman, 300 and
Dawn of The Dead are some of my absolute favourites too.
Like the snyder cut of Justice League, I've also preferred a lot of the director's
cuts for his films where we see his full vision come to life, not being held back by any age
rating, running time or particular studio, that wants a more pg-13 or stripped
back version of the vision they initially agreed to.
Now being with Netflix, I thought that Snyder may have that greater creative
control and we'd get the intended cut of his new film straight out of the gate.
But with Rebel Moon, it's another case of, we'll need to see the extended version, because
this feels like another inferior take on an idea
that had a lot of potential.
It's important to note, that while I think a director's cut would need a lot to improve
what this first version of the film gave us, that Zack Snyder
has just come out and confirmed that there is a longer r-rated director's cut, and that
he thinks it's the best version of the project out there.
After watching the film and thinking about this, it annoys me, because I can't quite
think of a reason why we wouldn't get that version of the film right away, especially
as Snyder has much more freedom over at Netflix.
And with the movie lacking in originality, lacking in its script and characterisation,
it feels like a missed opportunity to give us the beafier version of it.
So right now, I can only judge this film based on the version they've released and as a Snyder
fan, that version is very disappointing.
Starting with the things that worked though, a lot of these things are those that you would
expect to be delivered on in a Snyder picture.
Zack Snyder is a director that for one, has a distinct visual and narrative style,
and whether he's made superhero movies like in the Snyderverse and Watchmen, or other
epics like 300, he's shown an interest in portraying
both the brutality and beauty in both his stories and characters.
Specifically, his characters all have deep rooted flaws, he makes it a priority to highlight
their humanity, and critiques their positions.
Even though Snyder's films have a huge preference for the visual and use digital VFX in stunning
fashion, the characters are the heart of those stories
and without them, I don't think his work would appeal to those that it has done in contemporary
culture.
Before Rebel Moon came out, I said that I thought it would be interesting
to see how he applies his filmmaking style to the frameworks of a full-blown science
fiction movie, one that has been a passion project of his for so many years.
It started as a pitch for Star Wars and grew out into this
idea for a new IP, that we would expect to be yes inspired by the cited sources like
Star Wars and Seven Samarai, but also original in
some ways too.
With Rebel Moon, when it comes to the visuals, apart from a few green screen shots that don't
quite land, it is a stunning film in many moments.
Zack Snyder gives us his quintissential colour palette, slow-mo
shots, and frames that are almost painting-like in the way they come to life, translating
those many detailed storyboards that he traditionally puts together before shooting.
It does look great, and that is something we've come to expect from a Snyder film.
On top of this the central character of Sofia Boutell, Kora, is one that going into part
2 and that mentioned director's cut, that has definitely peaked my interest, and I'm
generally on board with her character's journey for
revenge.
Boutella does a good job of bringing to life the emotive parts within a warrior that has
much history and along with some of the reveals that we got throughout part 1, it
does make me excited to see where her arc eventually goes.
On top of this, the score by Junkie XL is another solid one and from an overall technical
perspective, Zack Snyder does a good job all round.
But when thinking about most of the other areas of Rebel Moon, that's where this begins
to take a nosedive.
The rest of the characters on show feel too thinly
developed to hold a multiple part saga, the vilains including Ed Skrein's Admiral are
completely stripped down to the bone and the pacing of the film, moving from one planet
to the next as a team is put together, needs much
more detail and character work to hold its own.
One of my only concerns for the film going in, and I spoke about this in my video essay
a few weeks back, was that by being built on
very familiar foundations, it could end up being too comparative to what's come before.
There is this fear that in bringing to life something that was already going to be apart
of Star Wars, and having visual and storytelling references there that bring up comparison,
viewers may see that as a weakness.
I had hope that this wouldn't be a problem because
in the past Snyder has done a decent job of taking many influences, bringing them together
and giving us his own philosophical take on it.
And that's especially true by a lot of the third acts of his films, where we get something
in the narrative we didn't expect or it ends on a unique message based on the
questions of morality that the individual projects pose.
That's a problem with Rebel Moon as it takes 2 hours to get to a moment of climax, and
what it does in those 2 hours, other films would be able to do in just a first
act.
And even that idea of table setting isn't detailed enough for this to feel purposeful.
The best way to describe the film is that it
feels like Seven Samarai in space, but it's a first act and doesn't do anything new or
more than you would expect from its inspired sources.
Yes, I know that Snyder intended for this to be Samarai in space, but like with
his other work, I expected at least more of a fresher outlook to some of the things happening,
so that it could really distinguish itself as a meaningful new brand.
It's a shame because you've got all of this great talent on display, like Djimon Hounsou,
Anthony Hopkins and Charlie Hunnam, and I leave it feeling like
I just won't remember some of these characters.
And I think this is routed down to two central problems, one being a poorly structured script,
and the other possibly affecting that, in that again, it's a shorter stripped-back
version of the movie we could have had.
So as a whole, I'm quite disappointed with Rebel Moon Part 1 and I think the only thing
that would turn my head on the project, is if that longer director's cut is a much better
and detailed version of the film.
Right now, it's just far too similar to things we've seen before, and while I found it quite
enjoyable at times, the story hasn't really interested me in the way other Snyder films
have.
We spend all this time on the recruitment of the team, something that could have been
the first half of part 1 with much more characterisation.
It's a shame, because I do think there's potential here visually from a worldbuilding sense,
but it just needs that bigger bite of character world and scenes that
make us connect more to these characters.
It feels too much of a one note approach to an inspired science fiction film, and that's
something that I didn't want or expect from it.
I will say this, there are a few moments in the story like the combined focus on retaliation
from both opposing sides and the scenes that make you truly support this team of rebels
that do work.
They make me somewhat interested in at least watching part 2, and my hope is that a cut
of the film with more detail will help the flesh that out.
And of course, whenever Snyder puts out a movie I'll be there
to watch it, because again, I'm a fan of his style and filmmaking work.
I've loved a lot of it and one bad day at the office is common
amongst nearly every filmmaker around.
So while I didn't love Rebel Moon, I'm open to have a change of mind, through both the
next part of this journey and maybe the highlighted director's cut that's supposedly on the way.
If that director's cut is as good as the extended cuts for some of his other work, then there's
a chance I might like that a whole lot more.
But that was my review for Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon.
In many areas, Rebel Moon is definitely lacking and I think there's a lot of room for improvement
in that supposed director's cut, which Snyder said is his preferred version
of the film.
Again though, I don't know why they didn't just lead with that and give us the intended
version right from the get-go.
Joining Netflix was essentially supposed to give Snyder that freedom, and while I'm sure
there will be some similar issues with that longer cut, it would just be more ideal to
judge the film in its entirety.
We'll have to see what happens if it comes to that, but ultimately, I'm left confused
and disappointed with Rebel Moon's intitial version, and
right now, it's one of my least favourite movies in Snyder's entire filmography.
I'm giving Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon Part 1 a rating of 6 out of 10.
But to those who have already seen the film what do you think of Zack Snyder's
latest project and do you agree that it's a disappointing one, that could be improved
by the second part or by that director's cut that Snyder has mentioned.
Again, it's all subjective and I appreciate a range of reactions and reviews, so let me
know down below in the comments section what you thought towards
it.
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