Zack Snyder has always had something of a strained relationship with critics; the negative response to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (along with a catastrophic second-weekend box office drop), for example, led to the DCEU undergoing a complete creative overhaul...and it never quite recovered.
After finally being allowed to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut of Justice League by Warner Bros. in 2021, the filmmaker has put the DC Universe behind him and is now building a new franchise for Netflix with Rebel Moon. The idea for that originated from a Star Wars movie Snyder once pitched to Lucasfilm, but Part One: A Child of Fire doesn't sound like much of a rival for that Galaxy Far, Far Away.
The first wave of reviews has hit Rotten Tomatoes and, as we write this, Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire has a dismal 9% score on the review aggregator.
This is the worst Tomatometer score of Snyder's filmmaking career, with the previous being Sucker Punch at 22%. Man of Steel and Batman v Superman are his only other "Rotten" releases as everything else the filmmaker has helmed is "Fresh" (though still not what many would deem to be critically acclaimed).
Check out the Tomatometer reveal below.
Here's the synopsis for Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire:
From Zack Snyder, the filmmaker behind 300, Man of Steel, and Army of the Dead, comes Rebel Moon, an epic science-fantasy event decades in the making. When a peaceful colony on the edge of a galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger living among the villagers, becomes their best hope for survival. Tasked with finding trained fighters who will unite with her in making an impossible stand against the Mother World, Kora assembles a small band of warriors — outsiders, insurgents, peasants and orphans of war from different worlds who share a common need for redemption and revenge. As the shadow of an entire Realm bears down on the unlikeliest of moons, a battle over the fate of a galaxy is waged, and in the process, a new army of heroes is formed.
The movie's cast includes Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, with Charlie Hunnam, and Anthony Hopkins as the voice of "Jimmy."
Other cast members include Staz Nair, Fra Fee, Cleopatra Coleman, Stuart Martin, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Alfonso Herrera, Cary Elwes, Rhian Rees, E. Duffy, Jena Malone, Sky Yang, Charlotte Maggi, and Corey Stoll.
Snyder directs from a script he wrote with Kurt Johnstad and Shay Hatten. Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire arrives on Netflix on December 22, 2023.