Rebel Moon Is What Happens When Zack Snyder Gets Everything He Wants

Zack Snyder was given something most blockbuster filmmakers rarely get anymore: an enormous budget, an original science-fiction universe, and enough creative freedom to make the movie he actually wanted to make. The result was Rebel Moon. Six hours and seventeen minutes of director's cuts, mythological world-building, brutal violence, strange machines, space operas, tragic warriors, generic dialogue, beautiful images, questionable pacing, and an ambition that is constantly much larger than the writing. Rebel Moon is easy to dismiss. It borrows from Star Wars, Seven Samurai, Heavy Metal, mythology, pulp science fiction, and decades of genre cinema. Its characters often share the same trauma. Its structure is familiar. Its dialogue can be painfully ordinary. And yet, it is difficult to call the films anonymous. This is not another simple Rebel Moon review asking whether Zack Snyder's movies are “good” or “bad.” It is an examination of what happens when a filmmaker is given the freedom to follow his obsessions without being forced to make them smaller, safer, or more familiar. The Snyder Cuts are better than the original versions. But better does not necessarily mean good. And that contradiction may be the most interesting thing about Rebel Moon. #RebelMoon #ZackSnyder #FilmEssay