MOVIE NEWS – Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire received negative reviews. Star Wars doesn’t need any more divisive movies…

Star Wars seems to have avoided a significant mistake when Lucasfilm cancelled Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire. Snyder originally pitched Rebel Moon as a Star Wars film. But the idea then expanded into a separate franchise. The film promised to be a departure from Star Wars by including sex, violence and real-life swearing. But the similarities are still easy to spot. Based on the film’s inspiration and original idea, Snyder’s planned Star Wars film would presumably have been similar.

Snyder has had a long and divisive directorial career, with many of his films receiving poor reviews yet finding an audience with dedicated fans, and Rebel Moon could follow suit.

Critics have long lists of complaints about the film. For example, that it does not focus on the characters and that it relies on its inspirations. Although Snyder knew that his cinema would be compared to Star Wars, this knowledge did not change enough to avoid criticism of the similarities. Rebel Moon showed what a Snyder-directed Star Wars movie could have been like. However, this did not help the film’s reception.

Reviews of the new Zack Snyder movie are generally bad

The film received 44 critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and it currently stands at a disappointing 23 per cent on Tomatometer. Many of the critics refer to the movie as a “Star Wars knock-off”. They criticize the film’s “derivative” and “unimaginative” story. They also note problems with the characters and world-building. Rebel Moon is planned to be a two-part film. So, while the story isn’t over yet, critics don’t seem impressed. Although the film has a handful of positive reviews, many of them barely cross the positive threshold. At the moment, all the “top critics” of the site have definitely classified the film in the “bad” category.

At the same time, it is worth noting that the fan evaluation – with over five hundred evaluators – stands at 73 per cent, showing viewers are less critical of Rebel Moon.

Many of the critics focus on Snyder’s direction. The director focuses on the visuals at the expense of the story. These problems would have carried over to any film Snyder made for Star Wars. Even without the changes made for Rebel Moon. He has a unique style and way of making films that just isn’t for everyone. Snyder’s films tend to divide audiences and critics. This was wisely avoided by Disney and Lucasfilm.

Star Wars can’t afford another divisive movie

A feature film has not been made since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The latter proved to be divisive both in its own right and as part of the new trilogy. All of this put the future of the franchise in doubt. Star Wars and Lucasfilm have taken steps to regain fan confidence in its quality with several successful Disney+ TV shows. Successes like The Mandalorian, Andor, and Ahsoka have proven that Star Wars can still take new creative paths and entertain a wider audience. While staying true to its roots and satisfying dedicated viewers. However, Return to the Galaxy Far Far Away needs to build on that and be as solid and beloved as possible.

Given the importance of the next Star Wars film and the critical reception of Rebel Moon, Disney and Lucasfilm may have made the right decision to reject Snyder’s offer.

His films have a devoted cult following, but some viewers are also turned away. The Star Wars movies are big-budget blockbusters meant for whole families. Snyder’s directorial style and penchant for dividing audiences would have gotten the new addition to the franchise in trouble. Star Wars needs more stability and universality than a Snyder movie can provide.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes