The Big Picture
Rebel Moon’s universe is intriguing but lacks depth. It feels like an adapted story from a rich source, with plot and characters feeling like afterthoughts. The pacing, fight scenes, and characters in Rebel Moon are disappointing. The joyless characters have no nuance, and their interactions are shallow. A longer, R-rated Rebel Moon exists, but Netflix’s decision to release a condensed, PG-13 version feels like a marketing gimmick that backfires, inconveniencing fans.
There was a lot of hype leading up to the release of Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire. The movie was Zack Snyder’s passion project, something he’d been working towards for decades. It was proposed to be made as a Star Wars film, a TV show, and even a video game. Rebel Moon found its home on Netflix as a two-part space opera. The second part of the movie is yet to be released, but its first part is up on Netflix and, unfortunately, it’s nowhere near as good as anticipated. It has haphazard pacing, repetitive exposition-to-fight scene patterns, and stilted character development. But that’s not why we are so exasperated by Rebel Moon. The real problem lies in the fact that a better version of the movie exists, and it’s being kept veiled as a marketing gimmick.
Rebel Moon
When a peaceful settlement on the edge of a distant moon finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, a mysterious stranger living among its villagers becomes their best hope for survival.
Release Date December 22, 2023
Director Zack Snyder
Studio Netflix
‘Rebel Moon’ Is a Flawed Movie With Potent Concepts
Rebel Moon’s universe definitely has a certain intrigue to it. It’s absolutely brimming with promises of exciting lore, but since the movie is pressed for time, it never really attempts to delve into the intricacies of the world. While watching Rebel Moon, you get a sense that it’s adapted from a copious source, perhaps a rich sci-fi novel spanning volumes, with the threadbare plot and characters being added as an afterthought. But that’s not the case. Rebel Moon in its entirety, with all its flaws and strengths, is an original IP. And while the attempt to bring it to a screen is a worthy effort, you can’t help but wonder why it wasn’t handled better.
Rebel Moon has its pacing issues and uninspired fight scenes, but the movie receives the biggest grievance from its characters, all of whom are utterly joyless to follow around. None of them seem to have any bit of nuance in them. Consider the bland journey of its protagonist, Kora (Sofia Boutella), to enlist the help of like-minded rebels from around the galaxy to fight against the evil ever-expanding empire. Kora herself comes from a dark past, the glimpses of which are time and again shown to us in stylistic but substanceless flashback shots. Conveniently for Kora, it doesn’t take much convincing for the eccentric warriors to join her rank; just a few corny lines will do.
Upon introduction, each new rebel gets an obligatory kick-ass sequence where they tame a soaring beast or slay a spider-like alien with a dual sword. It’s briefly hinted that all of these characters have a fascinating backstory — one of them is a prince turned slave — but as soon as their five minutes of fame ends, so does their contribution to the overall story. At no point do we see them interact with each other in any meaningful way. Their personalities, as distinct as they might be, neither clash nor rhyme, but simply trudge behind where the plot carries them. There is one character that feels a little fleshed out and actually like a human, but ironically enough, it’s a robot named Jimmy (Anthony Hopkins).
A Longer, R-Rated Director’s Cut of ‘Rebel Moon’ Exists
Rebel Moon is perhaps the most unapologetic and easily recognizable Zack Snyder movie, which, for a polarizing filmmaker like him, is a double-edged sword. On one hand, all the epic elements associated with Snyder are on proud display here. But at the same time, his weaknesses also stand bare and exposed. So, it comes as a little surprise to learn that Rebel Moon has turned out to be one of the more divisive movies of 2023, scoring 24% with the critics and 61% with the audience on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing. This isn’t too atypical for a Snyder film; he has an extremely loyal fan base who have passionately defended Snyder movies that have been panned by the critics. But even his ardent fans can’t seem to get over the fact that Netflix is hiding a longer, better version of the movie in an obvious marketing stunt.
In an interview with AP, Zack Snyder revealed that the Rebel Moon released in December is a condensed, PG-13 version of the movie intended to reach a wider audience. Snyder’s true vision of the film is actually a longer, R-rated story with more fleshed out characters and a more detailed world. And what’s more, this yet unreleased version of the film isn’t only meant to be an extended cut, but an alternative version of the movie that feels like it’s in a different universe. And while it’s good to know that a better version of the movie exists since it definitely has potential, it begs the awkward question of why Netflix even bothered with a PG-13 release that’s so noticeably inferior in quality?
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Netflix’s ‘Rebel Moon’ Snyder Cut Stunt Feels Too Contrived
Image via Netflix
Oftentimes, director’s cuts are dismissed as a marketing tactic to sell slightly tweaked versions of a film. And while there are movies that use director’s cuts only as a means to sell DVD box sets, Snyder has been more or less consistent in delivering director’s cuts that are better than the theatrical releases. We’ve seen the pattern repeat in Watchmen, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and most notably Zack Snyder’s Justice League. He’s the sort of director whose best work comes out when it’s not restrained for corporate interest. This is a well-known fact among moviegoers, and now with Rebel Moon’s alternate version, there’s a sense that Netflix is trying to use the Snyder Cuts’ legacy as a marketing gimmick.
Netflix can spin it any way they want, but the truth is that no one really wanted this version of Rebel Moon when it’s so painfully lacking in depth. Keeping the better version of the movie hidden until the release of Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver screams greed and marketing gimmick. For one, it’s a shameless attempt to double the view count through a single intellectual property. And secondly, it feels like a half-hearted attempt to re-create the Snyder Cut buzz that received unprecedented, organic promotion before the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. But it just doesn’t work here because the context is very different.
The reason why the Snyder Cut worked for Justice League was because there was a genuine, regretful reason behind Snyder not being able to complete his film, and it had to be completed by a different director. It was obvious that the Justice League we received was far from Snyder’s vision. Since the fans had high hopes for Justice League and faith in Snyder, there was a genuine reason to demand a director’s cut. Netflix’s approach with Rebel Moon, however, feels too disingenuous and artificial, like it’s trying to bring in twice the view from the same IP. But fans can easily see through this trickery, and Netflix, Zack Snyder, and Rebel Moon’s brands suffer on account of inconveniencing fans with a first draft-like version of the movie. The streaming giant would have fared better releasing a movie that feels fleshed out and complete. And maybe the eventual director’s cut will be much better than the one we’ve just seen, but by then these marketing gimmicks might just tire and repulse even the most fervent fans.
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
Watch on Netflix