Summary

  • Zack Snyder adapted a familiar Star Wars trope for Rebel Moon, creating his own universe and franchise.
  • Snyder wanted to put a twist on the trope where heroes infiltrate enemy bases by dressing as the villains.
  • Snyder initially pitched Rebel Moon as a Star Wars movie.

Rebel Moon as a Star Wars film, although this did not come to fruition, with Snyder and Lucasfilm's visions not aligning well with each other. Snyder instead chose to create his own science-fiction universe and franchise, including R-rated director's cuts of the first two films.

While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about the recently released director's cuts on Netflix, Snyder discusses a rebel infiltration scene and how he wanted to make it different from Star Wars. From the original Star Wars to the Disney+ animated series The Bad Batch, the franchise frequently features its characters quickly disguising themselves as the enemy in order to infiltrate their facilities. Snyder wanted to add more detail to this trope so it would work well with the universe he was creating. Check out his comments below:

Yeah, the point was that I wanted it to be credible that they could pull it off. Kora obviously has great knowledge of protocol and how the whole thing works, and they have these uniforms and a dropship. So we had all these elements that they could put together to do this, but I wanted it to be slightly technical.

Rebel Moon Is A Pale Imitation Of Star Wars

It Does Not Live Up To A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Despite suggestions that Rebel Moon would rival Star Wars and improve upon certain aspects of it, Snyder's films have not yet managed to come close to the quality of the long-running franchise. This is already apparent in the critical and audience reception to the first installments of the Rebel Moon franchise. Both the original releases and the director's cuts have been critically panned, although the director's cuts were received slightly better.

Title

Tomatometer Score

Audience Score

Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)

22%

56%

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)

17%

48%

Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood (2024)

29%

65%

Rebel Moon – Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness (2024)

33%

64%

Unlike Star Wars, Rebel Moon does not prioritize its characters or storytelling, and instead places more emphasis on the spectacle of its action. Part of the original Star Wars' success was its ability to make Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo, and the rest of the characters worth investing in, which the franchise has continued to do well. Rebel Moon's characters are thinly developed, even in the director's cuts, as flashback montages and action sequences fail to make them compelling and fleshed out.

Rebel Moon is also more interested in being a franchise than in telling satisfying individual stories, with the most intriguing part of its story being teases for the next installment. Star Wars stands the test of time because it tells a complete and rewarding story on its own while also setting up a larger franchise. Rebel Moon's "improvements" to familiar Star Wars tropes are not enough to elevate the films or have them come close to rivaling a galaxy far, far away.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Rebel Moon Part one movie poster

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Rebel Moon
Release Date
December 22, 2023
Runtime
134 minutes
Director
Zack Snyder
Writers
Shay Hatten, Kurt Johnstad, Zack Snyder
  • Headshot Of Djimon Hounsou
    Djimon Hounsou
  • Headshot Of Sofia Boutella
    Sofia Boutella

From director Zack Snyder comes Rebel Moon, a sci-fi action movie set in the depths of space and following a colony that is facing the threat of Regent Balisarius. Sofia Boutella plays a warrior charged with recruiting others in the fight against the tyrant, and his unstoppable forces that are dead set on conquest. 

Franchise(s)
Rebel Moon
Studio(s)
The Stone Quarry, Grand Electric
Distributor(s)
Netflix
Budget
$90 Million