With Zack Snyder’s recent partnership with Netflix, a new space opera movie is made – Rebel Moon. The director, Zack Snyder is known for two things; movies that disappoint the critics and his die-hard fans will defend the artistry of his works. Considering we are not his die-hard fans nor critics, perhaps we could provide you with an unbiased review.

Let’s be real. The movie isn’t a masterpiece and not awful either. We rate it as 4/10. Rather than pointing out its flaws maybe we should note what Rebel Moon should learn from other successful space movies like Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy. This approach is reasonable too as Rebel Moon originally came from an idea pitch that was rejected when Snyder wanted to make his own Star Wars movie. 

Things to Learn From Star Wars

One thing that makes Star Wars stand out from other space movies is that they embrace the idea of intergalactic at its full potential. Planets of different climates, cultures, religions, alien species, history. Star Wars is packed with lore and differences. Rebel Moon, however, doesn’t have this charm. It takes place in an intergalactic setting but everything looks carbon-copied.

And that brings us to our next point – character design. Stormtroopers have clean plain armors, Mandalorians are packed with weapons, Jedis have traditional robes and lightsabers. It’s iconic and indistinguishable. Unfortunately, in Rebel Moon, everyone wears dark outfits. It’s even hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. 

Things to Learn From Guardians of the Galaxy

One thing that bothers us the most is how Rebel Moon gathered his team. There’s like a huge chunk of the movie where the characters were like, “hey, I know someone”. And they go to another planet to see that someone and say, “I’m putting together a team”, and the guy said “sure”, almost immediately. The team was created with little to no struggle. 

Furthermore, the character keeps telling everyone about each other’s skills and experience but they never get to prove it in the climactic battle. All that talks but it doesn’t pay off. 

In Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy however, they didn’t just create a team. They made a family. What makes the Guardians work as a team is that they originally hated each other and reluctantly worked together. Upon learning each other’s struggles and conflicts, they developed a bond and finally became a team. Read here if you want to know what makes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 a great movie.

And that brings us to the next point. Each member of the Guardians has a unique backstory and unique personality. Each member stands out. Meanwhile, in Rebel Moon, each main character is dark, broody, and wants revenge because their entire family was killed by Motherland. No one stands out because they were carbon-copied. 

What’s Great About Rebel Moon

Nonetheless, Rebel Moon isn’t all bad. One thing that is great about the movie is the villains. Motherland is a threat. A straight up space Nazi who doesn’t play around. They don’t just want to kill. They want torture you and take everything from you first. When their armies are around, the audience are genuinely scared. 

Other space armies like Stormtroopers and Chitauri don’t feel like a threat. It feels like they are just small pawns that can be easily defeated by a little bit of pew pew and pow pow and the good guys would win. But for the Motherland, they are the danger. 

About the Author

Muzhameer Putra

Author

Student by day, writer by night. If it's cinematic, I'll get it right. I'm a big fan of superheroes, cinemas, science, and history. But most of all, I just love good stories.

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