- Rebel Moon Part One received a low Rotten Tomatoes score of 23%.
- The screenwriter dismisses critics and focuses on the emotional core of the film.
- Many fans express frustration over Netflix’s choice not to release the Director’s Cut.
Rebel Moon Part One: A Child of Fire, a sci-fi epic directed by Zack Snyder, launched on Netflix recently, and its reception has been fairly divided. The movie initially started as a Star Wars pitch by Snyder to Lucasfilm but eventually transformed into its own story. After its release, screenwriter Kurt Johnstad addressed the negative critical reception in a conversation with Variety.
With a disappointing Rotten Tomatoes score of 23%, Johnstad brushes off the critics’ views, stating, “I don’t read the reviews, I never have. 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.”
A significant controversy surrounding Rebel Moon is Netflix’s decision not to release the Director’s Cut of the film. Many fans have questioned this choice, especially when the existing version on the platform fails to fully develop its characters in favor of stunning visuals. Snyder’s fans have been vocal about their discontent on social media.
While the audience score for the movie is higher at 67%, it is not an overwhelming success. Nevertheless, the film has become the top movie on Netflix, and Part Two: The Scargiver is set to debut on April 19, 2024. No release date for the Director’s Cut of Part One has been announced.