Zack Snyder’s newest Netflix film, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, has recently hit streaming platforms. Despite some excitement surrounding the epic sci-fi release, recent reviews have shown that the sequel is Snyder’s worst-reviewed movie to date.
The film stars Sofia Boutella, a former soldier responsible for recruiting warriors from her neighbouring planets to fight back against an evil imperium threatening her farming colony. The film sits at 17 per cent on the review site Rotten Tomatoes, subsequently setting the record for the director’s worst-reviewed movie. The previous recordholder was this film’s prequel, Rebel Moon, which sat at 21 per cent.
Zack Snyder has a history of putting out polarising pictures as his previous releases, such as Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and the original Justice League, all received 56, 29 and 40 per cent, respectively. As such, the Rebel Moon sequel follows in the director’s footsteps; however, the comments on the film are particularly scathing this time.
The main critique of the film is that it isn’t very engaging and the plot falls flat at first watch. One particular indictment read, “We’re given hundreds of details about this galaxy far far away, but no reasons to care about any of them.”
Snyder has hit back at the reviews, saying, “I don’t really have a rebuttal to the reviews. For whatever reason, the reaction to my movies is very polarising, and it always has been. The movie, it doesn’t seem like there’s that much in it that would warrant such visceral responses.”
Snyder has never seemed to be phased by his negative reviews, as he stands by everything he has ever put out. He revealed earlier in the month that the only film of his he has regrets over is Sucker Punch.
“It never really got finished correctly, even the director’s cut is not really the correct cut. It’s really just an extended version. If I had the chance, I would fix that movie,” he said. “I have the footage already shot: they just have to let me put it together. We ask every now and then. We have to ask again. I think there has to be a window when no one’s got the movie.”
Though the hostile reception doesn’t seem to bother the director, the film’s star, Boutella, has admitted they affect her. “I always thought that I was fully armed to take on those punches, and then I read the critics that came down on Rebel Moon and it really affected me.”
He continued, “I’m just gonna be honest about it. I feel like I’m carrying it for everybody that cared so much about this project, and that’s what affected me. Not the way I look. If anything, I’ve been pretty lucky and people like my work in it, but the movie was criticised.”
