Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire has just debuted on Netflix, but the critics are already perforating the Zack Snyder sci-fi movie with harsh scores. On the other hand, the audience scores are generally positive.
After his successful Netflix productions of Army of the Dead and Army of Thieves, Zack Snyder fully committed to bringing his take on the epic space opera. Snyder described Rebel Moon as his concept for a Star Wars film that did not get the nod from Lucasfilm, but evolved into his own dream project. Initial buzz on Rebel Moon was largely promising, particularly after the first teasers were released.
But now that Rebel Moon: Part 1 – A Child of Fire has begun streaming on Netflix, it seems critics had mostly negative feedback to share.
On the often cited review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire received terrible early scores of 9% from 22 reviews.
The first reviews are in for #RebelMoon – Part One: A Child Of Fire – currently it's Rotten at 9% on the Tomatometer, with 22 reviews: https://t.co/QABQhRXOIH pic.twitter.com/dk0P3Y40JV
— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) December 15, 2023
While the critics’ reviews have since been updated, as of the time of this writing it is still holding a “rotten” score of 24%. According to the overall critical consensus posted on the page dedicated to reviews of Rebel Moon: Part 1 – A Child of Fire:
Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire proves Zack Snyder hasn’t lost his visual flair, but eye candy isn’t enough to offset a storyline made up of various sci-fi/fantasy tropes.
Based on the top critic reviews so far, the perspective is that Snyder’s first entry in this space opera franchise is too derivative of other works, has dull characterization, and visually messy. But unsurprisingly, these negative reactions are very similar to how other Zack Snyder projects had been previously scored on Rotten Tomatoes, including the DC Extended Universe films.
And yet, this appears to be another case where the critics and general audience are on opposite sides of the fence. Within a day, the audience scores began coming in and the results are generally positive (71%). The audience reviews highlighted the visual spectacle, intense action sequences, and memorable characters.
However, the audience scores for Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire are not unanimously favorable. Some point out that Snyder’s foray into the sci-fi fantasy niche is light on the plot. Plus, other audiences who gave a negative score felt the ending was unsatisfying. But this latter critique is expected, as this is only the first half of the two-parter.
Over on Reddit, entire threads have been in heavy discussions regarding the reception of the first Rebel Moon entry on Netflix. One thread has even compiled all the major critical reviews from outlets beyond Rotten Tomatoes, such as Metacritic, Variety, Deadline, and various others. Much of the response leans toward Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon being a disappointment and not living up to the hype.
With the first installment already at the receiving end of negative critical bombardment, could the second half Rebel Moon Part 2: The Scargiver turn things around? If you have seen it, do you agree with the negative critical reactions or the more positive audience scores? Does it sour your interest for the upcoming Director’s Cut version?
