Director Zack Snyder has responded to the negative reviews from critics for his newest Netflix film, Rebel Moon, saying the bad reviews are not surprising because the reaction to his films is often “polarizing.” Snyder also discussed the upcoming R-rated cuts of Rebel Moon and its sequel, saying they are “insane.”
Speaking to Empire, Snyder said he doesn’t have a “rebuttal” to the poor reviews (Rebel Moon sits at a 31 on GameSpot sister site Metacritic). “For whatever reason, the reaction to my movies is very polarizing, and it always has been. The movie, it doesn’t seem like there’s that much in it that would warrant such visceral responses.”
Among other things, some reviews took issue with an implied rape scene in Rebel Moon, with The Hollywood Reporter saying Snyder’s attempt to create a “menacing” enemy came across simply as “gross.” Beyond that scene in particular, many reviews said the Star Wars-inspired sci-fi movie was simply just not very good.
Rebel Moon star Sofia Boutella said the negative reaction to the movie “really affected me,” adding that it was “hard to see something being demolished to that extent.”
Despite the lackluster reviews, Boutella said she was “proud to have been part of it,” and that if the series does not continue, it will remain a “very important part of my life that I will defend forever.”
Rebel Moon’s sequel, The Scargiver, comes to Netflix this April. And after that, Snyder will release “hard-R” cuts of both films featuring additional scenes with violence and nudity.
These new cuts will have “all the gore and the hard R-ness and the nudity and the violence and crazy shit,” Snyder said. Describing these versions, Snyder said, “They’re insane. It’ll be interesting to see what the [critics] say about the director’s cuts. That’s a different kettle of fish.”
Rebel Moon premiered in November 2023 on Netflix and put up bigger numbers than Snyder’s previous Netflix movie, Army of the Dead. A Rebel Moon video game was announced in 2023 from developer Super Evil Mega Corp. It will be available via Netflix Games, but there is no word yet on a release date.
