Rebel Moon writer comments on the movie’s bad reviews

Last Updated on December 29, 2023

Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon has proven to be a big success for Netflix, easily becoming the number-one movie on the streaming service, but the reviews have been rather divisive. Rebel Moon currently stands as one of Snyder’s lowest-rated movies among critics, but fans have found more to like about the sci-fi epic.

Rebel Moon co-writer Kurt Johnstad spoke with Variety about the negative reviews the film has received.

“I don’t read the reviews, I never have,” Johnstad said. “Critics have a job to do. We live in a democracy. Everybody gets to vote. If people watch the film, they’ll have an experience, and they will either enjoy it or they won’t. It’s flavors of ice cream. In my career of 20 years doing this, reviews have never equated to performance. A movie will either perform or it won’t. People will either love it and be connected to it, and I think what this movie has is an emotional drive and a core and characters that are vulnerable. And of course, there’s sequence and action and visual — it’s a magnificent looking film. But I think that at the core of it, it’s got emotion. There’s an emotional engine and a currency that runs through the film that I think works, so I’d invite people to check it out.“

Rebel Moon takes a lot of inspiration from various sources, including Star Wars and Seven Samurai, which some critics have seen as negative, but Johnstad feels the film is able to stand alone as its own original story.

“It’s impossible not to be compared to ‘Star Wars.; They’re very different worlds. We’re trying to do very different things,” Johnstad said. “This isn’t an IP. This is an original story. It’s being created by hundreds, if not thousands of technicians. That’s a really bold thing. He as a filmmaker takes big swings on every film, and it’s fun to watch somebody who has enough confidence, internally in himself, to take those kinds of swings in the material that he puts out there in the world.“

Here’s the official logline for Rebel Moon: “When a peaceful colony on the edge of a galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger living among the villagers, becomes their best hope for survival. Tasked with finding trained fighters who will unite with her in making an impossible stand against the Mother World, Kora assembles a small band of warriors — outsiders, insurgents, peasants and orphans of war from different worlds who share a common need for redemption and revenge. As the shadow of an entire Realm bears down on the unlikeliest of moons, a battle over the fate of a galaxy is waged, and in the process, a new army of heroes is formed.“

Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire is now streaming on Netflix and will be followed by Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver on April 19, 2024. You can check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray right here, and be sure to let us know what you thought of the film as well!