'Rebel Moon' Is An Awesome Movie, Critics Tearing It To Shreds Are Completely Wrong
"Rebel Moon" is definitely worth watching, despite what reviews might say.
The Netflix film from Zack Snyder is believed to have originally started as a possible "Star Wars" story before it fell through, and the famous director pivoted to something else.
The final product is a two-film story with potential for more films. "Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire" hit Netflix in December, and was immediately nuked by critics.
I put off watching it because the reviews were so unbelievably bad. The film currently has a 23% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and an audience score of 59%. The latter isn't that big of a deal. The score from critics is shocking.
Below are some reviews featured on Rotten Tomatoes:
"Rebel Moon" is absolutely worth a watch.
Well, after deciding it was probably a pass from me, a friend hit me up saying that I had to watch. Okay, I'll bite, and that's exactly what I did over the weekend.
What the hell are all the critics talking about? I loved "Rebel Moon," and thought it was awesome. The plot follows a young woman named Kora (Sofia Boutella) as she battles a tyrannical empire. At first glance, she looks like an innocent woman who lives in a farming community.
Sofia Boutella stars as Kora in "Rebel Moon." (Credit: Clay Enos/Netflix © 2023)
However, as layers of her story are pulled back, it turns out there is a lot more to Kora than meets the eye, and it's not all positive. That's about as much as I can say without spoiling the character arc.
What I will say is the "Star Wars" influence is heavy and noticeable, but that's not a bad thing. The action scenes are incredibly well shot, the plot isn't boring at all (critics absolutely are wrong on this point), the development of Kora over the course of the film is outstanding and the film is just a ton of fun.
Michiel Huisman and Charlie Hunnam both provide great performances in support of Boutella.
"Rebel Moon" is a solid movie, despite what critics say. (Credit Clay Enos/Netflix © 2023)
I also really appreciated how Kora is a badass character, but it's not forced on the audience in a "girl boss" way that has become the norm in Hollywood. It's actually believable that she's capable of carrying out extreme violence, and it's explained through her backstory. The woke crowd loves to complain about a lack of female leads, which isn't even true to begin with, and most of the time, it feels very forced. That's not the case at all with "Rebel Moon." Kora's backstory and development make all the action scenes easy to buy.
Zack Snyder put on a masterclass on how to organically mold an incredible female lead similar to what fans might have seen from "Tomb Raider" or "Alias" back in the day.
I always love finding out critics have no idea what they're talking about, and that's 100% the case with "Rebel Moon." Now, fans wait for "Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver" to premiere April 19 on Netflix. Ignore what all the reviews say, and give the first film a shot in the meantime. You might be pleasantly surprised. If you have seen it, then let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.