By The reviews are in for the first film in Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon” sci-fi saga and the results are scathing.
The story begins around a colony on the agricultural moon of Veldt on the galaxy’s edge. The peaceful is threatened by the armies of the tyrannical regent Belisarius (Ed Skrein) and the ferocious and all-powerful Imperium. An isolated young woman, who has her own history with the Imperium, sets out in search of warriors from other planets to fight the tyrannical armies.
With 40 reviews counted, the film is clocking in at just 25% (4.1/10) on Rotten Tomatoes and 32/100 on Metacritic. Much of the criticism falls along the same lines – namely a lack of a coherent story rendering a mishmash of sci-fi tropes.
The reviews come as the film hits cinemas today ahead of a streaming release next Friday. Here’s a sampling of review quotes:
“Another Zack Snyder movie, that deals with the same old issues. Quality production values with scatterbrained, incoherent storytelling. I feel like a broken record.” – Valerie Complex, Deadline
“A hugely expensive but uninspired ‘Star Wars’ knockoff with some thrilling action sequences, and some truly ugly moments that taint the entire thing.” – William Bibbiani, TheWrap
“Snyder mistakes exposition for world-building, the lugubriously delivered reams of backstory removing the audience from the fantasy rather than immersing them in it.” – Charles Bramesco, Guardian
“A movie that feels like a million isolated storyboards without a single thing welding them together.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire
“The film is too invested in table-setting to be fully enjoyed on its own, at times feeling more like a studio presentation deck than a piece of organic storytelling.” – Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times
“Just seconds into the leaden sci-fi saga Rebel Moon Part One: A Child of Fire, it’s clear the director is back to indulging his worst tendency for self-serious bombast.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
“‘Rebel Moon,’ while eminently watchable, is a movie built so entirely out of spare parts that it may, in the end, be for Snyder cultists only.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
“That even after a reported 20 years in the making the film still feels fundamentally pointless isn’t just disappointing, it’s entirely bewildering.” – Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph
“This misbegotten attempt at creating a new out-of-this-world Snyderverse is merely a knockoff dressed up in its director’s stylistic signatures.” – Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
The cast includes Sofia Boutella, Ed Skrein, Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Staz Nair, Bae Doona, Michiel Huisman, Jena Malone, Cary Elwes, Ray Fisher, Corey Stoll, Alfonso Herrera, Cleopatra Coleman, Stuart Martin, Kingston Foster, Ingvar Sigurdsson, Fra Fee and the voice of Anthony Hopkins.
“Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire” is in cinemas now and hits Netflix next Friday. “Rebel Moon Part 2: The Scargiver” will release on the service on April 19th 2024. Director’s cuts of both are expected at a later date.
The post The “Rebel Moon” Reviews Are In appeared first on Dark Horizons.
