REVIEW #332 Rebel Moon (2023)

When a remote village finds itself threatened by a tyrannical force, a mysterious women seeks out warriors to help defend them. 

Rebel Moon uses clear inspiration from universes such as Star Wars and I noticed a lot from Dune too, attempting to create its own Sci-Fi universe. Some elements it executed really well and others, not so much, however one certainty is that Zack Snyder sticks to his artistic trademarks that are ever present from start to finish, slow motion action sequences, vibrant and expansive landscapes and impressively unique character designs. But I’m afraid in this instance Snyder shoots himself in the foot, by leaving a lot of content back, ready for the directors cut. As a result this theatrical cut feels over paced, with key context and plot points seemingly being skipped past. Kora leads a search for warriors in the hope of saving their doomed village but each step of that search is ultimately glossed past, with them barely even mentioning how they know where to find certain characters. This almost leaves the audience with a sense of confusion, with the movie feeling disjointed. What I will say is I’m all for longer films so the directors cut is one that suits me perfectly and I have no doubts that this will be a very decent movie with the added content. But I completely understand some audiences frustration because they shouldn’t have to watch a 4 hour long film to get an acceptable version of the story. The theatrical cut at least needs to feel like a finished product, so the directors cut can just add nice little extras for the die hard fans. 

The cinematography at times was impressive, illustrating the scale of Snyders new universe, with vibrant landscapes and an array of colours and settings. I also mentioned the character designs which I thought were really cool, in particular the two from the bar which I wish we saw more of. There were times where I questioned certain design choices, mainly just one really, the space portal shaped intentionally to look like a vagina, well some say this is to represent the ‘mother world’ but for me that’s a corny representation and is easy bait for hate on the film, it really wasn’t needed and if you even compare it to something like Marvels design for space travel, the hexagon design, it looks miles better than what we have here. I also want to mention the casting, there are a lot of big names here and Snyder wasn’t afraid to take bold risks with those particular characters, no one was safe! Everyone performed well, generally speaking, and it’s clear Snyders instructions on the cast working out together paid off because they were all in great shape, which made seeing them as true warriors much easier. 

Whilst I wait for the directors cut, I’ll keep reading the hyper exaggerated opinions from both sides of the Snyder debate, some are blinded by unjustified hate for a genuinely kind director and others are blinded by a love for the man. These extremes on BOTH sides are exhausting at times and it actually puts a lot of people off Snyders as a director. But where I sit is firmly on the side of enjoying his style, I like the exaggerated artistic approach, the heavy use of slow motion in this film was a little overdone but usually I am partial to it, it makes action look great, but not every action scene needs it. Look at John Wick and that fast paced action choreography, arguably the best in the business! Some of that would have been cool in this movie. So all in all, I do still have hope for the franchise, I have no doubts that the directors cut will be much better and that this will hopefully lead to a prosperous movie universe. But I’ll be first in line for part 2 and whatever Snyder continues to do, as a fan of his work. Even if this theatrical cut wasn’t his best. 

Overall (6.5/10)

Thanks for reading.

Callan