Reviews for Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver are in, and for various reasons, they haven’t been kind to the Justice League director’s latest film. American filmmaker Zack Snyder’s partnership with Netflix has been fruitful for him, giving him a platform and resources to make the bombastic, action-packed movies he’s known for. Rebel Moon 2 is the third film he’s released on the streaming service, following Army of the Dead and the first Rebel Moon movie, both of which had varying degrees of success with critics.
Zack Snyder hopes to expand into several more Rebel Moon movies, making the sequel such a pivotal step in his sci-fi franchise. Unfortunately, Rebel Moon 2 has been met with equally poor reviews as the first film, currently holding a 13% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes from various critics and sites. Netflix has proven that even poorly reviewed films can obtain enormous viewership numbers on streaming, but continuing to expand the franchise if no installments are received well could be difficult. To some degree, they’ll need buzz to help attract viewers, especially for films costing upward of $150 to make.
Given that there’s already been an entire feature film to establish the Rebel Moon cast and characters, the expectation of a sequel would be to expand on them, diving deeper into each of the rebels introduced. A Child of Fire takes audiences on a whirlwind team assembly journey, putting together a misfit ensemble of warriors with varying skill sets, yet it’s practically an extended montage, offering minimal characterization to each member aside from their fighting capabilities. The Scargiver doesn’t provide much more.
To its credit, the sequel is slightly more character-oriented than its predecessor, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy certain critics, with AkhilArora criticizing the film for “routinely prioritizing exposition over its horridly underdeveloped characters.” The review expands on this, suggesting that “rather than be vulnerable and share how they feel about each other, the characters bring in more exposition.” A vital element of similar team-oriented movies like Star Wars is how the dynamics naturally develop throughout each film, which Snyder struggles with in Rebel Moon.
Zack Snyder has always been accused of having a dialogue problem, with movies like Batman v Superman regarded as particular low points for his scriptwriting. His films tackle inherently grand ideas but often struggle to capture the micro elements that make similar movies so beloved. AkhilArora’s review also cited the dialogue, again stating that it focused too heavily on exposition and was otherwise far too simplistic. The review states that “the lines are so generic and devoid of specificity that they could have been written by AI models.”
Writing dialogue for a space epic is a challenging line to navigate. Many reviewers have praised Snyder for the compelling world he’s created, with Digital Spy stating, “There’s no denying Snyder has created an interesting world – he just forgot to tell an interesting story within it.” Dialogue is a vital thread in bringing characters to life, but Rebel Moon focuses too heavily on using the cast as vessels to explain Snyder’s sci-fi universe, draining them of any potential personality.
Slow motion is a staple of Zack Snyder’s films, with an excessive amount often used in his action sequences in 300, Seemen, and more. It’s a divisive aspect of his filmography, as many Snyder fans find it to be an engaging stylistic element, while other audiences find it jarring and difficult to sit through, especially given the already epic length of some of his movies. Rebel Moon has an action-packed third act, which a reviewer from Slashfilm declared as “some of the most peak Zack Snyder moments in his entire filmography,” referring to the over-the-top slow motion.
A writer from Flicks criticized a similar aspect, saying, “We must admit now that Snyder has a slow-motion problem, and it’s a bug rather than a feature.” They add that the use of slow motion in Rebel Moon 2 is so outlandish that it’s practically self-parody of Snyder’s own work. This aspect may vary in appeal for those who enjoy the action of his other movies, but many reviewers saw it as a point of criticism.
Given the excessive similarities between Rebel Moon and Star Wars, it’s a natural comparison for the film. Comparisons to Seven Samurai or The Magnificent Seven are also equally credible, given that the film is directly inspired by their narrative model. Snyder originally pitched Rebel Moon to Disney as a Star Wars saga, though his plan was rejected, and he took it to Netflix instead. Given how dark and serious it is compared to the generally child-friendly Star Wars films, it’s no surprise why Disney was unfavorable of the idea.
The review from Collider simply states, “The Scargiver isn’t a disaster, but it’s something far worse: boring.” Boring is a harsh criticism for a film that’s made to primarily serve as entertainment value, but the severity and seriousness of Snyder’s films have often been a turn-off for many viewers. The review adds that Rebel Moon 2 is “too much of a slog that takes itself more seriously than it has any business pretending to be.” Zack Snyder movies like Batman v Superman and Man of Steel received similar criticism.
Zack Snyder’s movies are known for their flamboyant, ostentatious style, from slow motion to excessive violence to dramatic lighting to heavy CGI use. Rebel Moon incorporates all the critical Zack Snyder elements, receiving criticism for being “chaotic and overwrought to the end of burnout” from Geek Vibes Nation. In a sense, this review can be seen as contradictory to Rebel Moon being “boring,” but most criticisms align with the idea that the narrative is dull while the action is chaotic and overstimulating.
The same review also states that the action sequences are “effective, relentless, and can be exciting,” but the cluttered feeling arrives from the excess and lack of narrative compensation. Movie action is more accessible to sell when audiences care about the stakes, as viewers will feel more engaged if they feel some relation to the characters. Rebel Moon 2 offers a visceral action experience but lacks the emotional tether to justify such an onslaught of chaos.
A Child of Fire has a highly prevalent pacing issue. The second act primarily consists of characters being introduced in a rapid-fire sequence. Then, with minimal time for group bonding or character exploration, the cast is thrust into the final battle sequence. This seemed like something that could be amended with a sequel, given that much of the set-up was already taken care of, yet critics still cited The Scargiver’s pacing as a notable flaw.
A writer from Hipertextual declared that “although it improves in its pacing and the way it explores its characters, it’s still a bad and tedious version of Star Wars.” Rebel Moon 2’s pacing improved, but not significantly enough for the film to receive improved reviews over the first installment. The comparison of Star Wars is again notable, given that A New Hope is often considered a textbook model for blockbuster narrative, pacing, and the use of the hero’s journey model in mainstream cinema.
The first Rebel Moon movie is filled with narrative clichés, from its character archetypes to critical plot twist moments like the betrayal. Modern movie audiences are used to generic action movies and repetitive film tropes, hence why subversive material is so popular. Dune: Part Two is a recent example of a narrative that plays to the antithesis of familiar hero tropes. Rebel Moon may distinguish itself with its mature atmosphere, but it still falls into many generic traps.
MovieWeb gave Rebel Moon 2 one of its kindest reviews, praising the film for its entertainment value, yet still noted predictability as one of its cons, saying, “The film is still just a rehash of Seven Samurai, and is very predictable.” Rebel Moon is a loose adaptation, but it matters less so that it draws from Seven Samurai and more so that Seven Samurai’s narrative model has already been recycled by dozens of other movies in the same genre that critics and audiences are already familiar with, making Rebel Moon 2 feel redundant.
Zack Snyder faced the challenging obstacle of introducing audiences to the complex Rebel Moon universe, a world that resembles similar space operas but has its own unique features. As previously mentioned, Rebel Moon’s world is quite compelling, as Snyder does very well with his broader concepts. However, introducing the world unfortunately comes at the cost of valuable screen time that can be spent exploring his characters.
CBR provided another primarily positive review for Rebel Moon, though they highlighted that “The film still relies on heavy-handed exposition.” Exposition is an incredibly tricky film element to balance, though it speaks to Snyder’s past criticisms of being unable to pack all of his narratives into shortened run times. The Rebel Moon 2 extended cut may provide a far better balance between exposition and character development with added time. Still, it’s a fair criticism of his movie if the excess information dumping damages the pacing of the initial release cut.
Sources: AkhilArora, Digital Spy, Slashfilm, Flicks, Collider, Geek Vibes Nation, Hipertextual, MovieWeb, CBR