Rebel Moon: the screenwriter reacts to bad reviews and explains the end of the first part

“Critics have to do their job. We live in a democracy,” says Kurt Johnstad, creator of Rebel Moon with Zack Snyder.

The first part of Rebel Moon has just landed on Netflix, and the critical reception of the latest film from Zack Snyder is not really good, to say the least. In the United States, the Rotten Tomatoes site gives it 24% positive reviews, even belowAquaman and the Lost Kingdom (36%)… Well, we can criticize Rotten Tomatoes in many ways, but the facts are there: Rebel Moon takes a good volley (we’re part of the artillery: we didn’t like it). Variety (whose reviewer said the film was “eminently watchable”) interviewed Kurt Johnstad, co-writer of the film (but also of 300 and its sequel), and asked his opinion, among other things, on these negative reviews.

Rebel Moon Part 1: Child of Fire, space opera (review)

“I don’t read reviews, I never have”affirms Kurt at the microphone of EW. “Critics have to do their job. We live in a democracy. Everyone has the right to vote. If people watch the film, they will have an experience, and they will either like it or reject it. It’s like ice cream flavors. In my twenty-year career, reviews have never replaced success. Either a film is successful or it isn’t. People can love it, connect with it , and I believe that this film has a real emotional mechanism, a heart, and vulnerable characters. And of course, there are big moments, action, visuals… It’s a visually stunning film. But I believe that at its center, there is emotion. There is a real emotional engine, and a power which runs through the whole film, and which works, in my opinion. So, I invite everyone looking at him.”

But that’s not all: be careful, we enter the orbit of the spoilersince Johnstad explained why Child of Fire ends this way: on a cliffhanger.

So at the end of the first part of Rebel MoonKora (Sofia Boutella) defeated the dreadful Noble (Ed Skrein)… before the latter is recovered by the Mother World to patch it up. Surprise: we will find it again in the sequel, The Slasher. “It was a pretty cool idea.”summarizes Kurt, still on the microphone of EW. “It’s Zack’s idea. I would love to have had it. We present larger themes around the Mother World, its connection with Belisarius, the astral plane – which we haven’t seen much. C “It’s something we’ll see more of (in the sequel), how they can move through space and time, a recurring thing in science fiction or science fantasy. We thought it would be very satisfying to see Noble or Ed thrown off the platform in front of her, victorious. The heroes think they can walk away and everything will be fine – and this guy is just impossible to kill, and he’s still stalking them .”

Child of Fire is currently on Netflix, and The Slasher arrives on April 19 on the platform. There is already a trailer: