Rebel Moon, the proposed Star Wars film by Zack Snyder, has received criticism for lack of character focus and heavy reliance on inspiration.
The movie debuted on Netflix on December 21 after a limited theatrical release in the United States a week prior. Reviews across the board have been rather poor, with people accusing it of being a “knockoff” and noting issues with the plot and worldbuilding.
It looks as though Lucasfilm made the right choice when it passed on Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire. Snyder originally proposed the script as a Star Wars movie, but the idea turned into its own franchise. The film promised to deviate from traditional Star Wars storytelling by including graphic violence, sex, and real-world swearing. However, the rest of the similarities are simple to see.
Snyder’s career as a director has been divisive over the many years. Although much of his portfolio of movies receives poor reviews, they end up finding an audience of dedicated fans. There is a chance that Rebel Moon may achieve the same outcome. Although the film shows what a Star Wars film by Snyder would look like, it has failed to improve the reception.
Much of the critiques outside of the lackluster characters, story, and worldbuilding, are held against Snyder’s focus on visuals rather than narrative. These issues would have likely carried over to any film Snyder pitched for Star Wars, even without the alterations he made for Rebel Moon. His particular style and methodology are not for everyone.
Rebel Moon is set to be a film saga told in two parts.
There has been no feature-length Star Wars film since Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, which left the entire future of the franchise in heavy doubt. Fortunately, the live-action TV series on Disney+, including The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Andor, have been highly appreciated by the community.
Because of Snyder’s tendency to divide audiences with his controversial directing style, Lucasfilm made the right call to reject his pitch. Given how much the Star Wars sequel trilogy caused a lack of stability and universality, it’s no wonder that Lucasfilm is trying to be careful going forward.