The new SF film “Rebel Moon 2 – The Scar-Maker” was apparently clearly intended and promoted by Netflix as a blockbuster, after all, they had enlisted Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Justice League), a renowned action director. But the film is failing with critics – one scene is particularly harshly criticized. The idea for this scene is said to have been reused by Snyder from a DC film he had in mind.
What kind of film is Rebel Moon 2?
- Rebel Moon tells the story of “The Magnificent Seven” in a science fiction version. Although the “magnificent seven” is also just the western version of a samurai film.
- A gang of extraordinary fighters must protect a small village from an overwhelming enemy, from the “Motherworld”, a faceless fascist space regime that equips its assassins with burning lightsabers because … because … it looks visually impressive and since they already look like the Empire from Star Wars, they might as well go all in.
- In part 1 of Rebel Moon, the underlying conflict was introduced and the heroes were gradually gathered; in part 2, the big battle for the village, which was missing in part 1, takes place.
Director has incorporated idea for “Justice League 2” into Rebel Moon 2
And the critics don’t like that? No, they really don’t. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has only 52% positive reviews, on IMDB it is rated 5.2 out of 10. On Metacritic, it stands at a disastrous 36%. It definitely falls far short of expectations.
Director Zack Snyder is now giving critics new fodder as he spoke about the references in the film to “Justice League 2”. This is a planned film in the superhero universe DC, which never materialized:
There is definitely a last supper in Justice League 2, with a scene in which the heroes have to tell the story of how they ended up there […] and, yes, the scene in Rebel Moon has a similar structure to the one we were considering for Justice League 2. There are a few other ideas that we included in Rebel Moon, but not enough to make a realization of Justice League 2 impossible.
Clunky scene delivers heroes’ origin story
What is the problem? The scene Snyder is referring to provides the origin story of each hero in Rebel Moon 2: In just a few sentences and in clunky flashbacks, each character introduces what traumatized them. One lost all his troops, another had his kingdom stolen, a heroine was betrayed by the evil empire.
It is criticized that in the scene the stories of the heroes are only briefly summarized, and there is no opportunity to build a connection with them. The fact that all the traumatic events are recounted one after the other undermines the impact of each individual fate.
Promised “Snyder Cut” doesn’t make the film better
Is there more criticism? German YouTuber David Hain also criticizes Snyder for his promise to deliver a “Director’s Cut” that is supposed to be much more extensive and brutal than the film and allegedly will revolutionize “SF cinema” (via youtube).
When such monster cuts are promised, who still wants to watch the normal film, asks Hain.
The “Magnificent Seven” formula is messed up
What does MeinMMO think? I have already seen Rebel Moon 2, and the film indeed has not a single twist or original idea. Part 1 at least still had the classic traitor scene, but part 2 runs through like it’s on a string.
The “Magnificent Seven” formula only works if the viewer finds the characters interesting or at least understands them, and there is a charismatic villain with evil henchmen who spectacularly go down one after the other. In “Rebel Moon”, the energy was rather put into the fight scenes and the world-building, which is hardly used efficiently, instead of into the urgently needed characterization of the characters.
The characters come across more like superheroes that only define themselves by a gimmick rather than as characters in a feature film.
Especially in the case of Justice League, Zack Snyder probably shouldn’t have drawn from it: Justice League is considered a failed film and lost quite a bit of money. A second part has not yet been made.
Also Rebel Moon, which is supposed to have many more parts coming, could now find a quick end.
At least Zack Snyder had fun:
