One most of the highly anticipated films of 2023 were finally released! Ever since the announcement of Rebel Moon, fans have been excited over how Zack Snyder‘s approach to a Star Wars-like universe. The trailers only added to the excitement as it was packed with incredible visuals and thrilling action. Then the official film dropped. That enthusiasm for Rebel Moon disappeared once most fans realized that Rebel Moon is the same story that they’ve seen time and time again. Of course, Zack Snyder had his signature style front and center, but the general consensus is that Rebel Moon is more like Sucker Punch, not 300.
However, the strange part of Rebel Moon is that Snyder himself stated that there was an R-rated version. Not just an ordinary director’s cut, but an entirely different film overall:
“It’s almost like a different movie. It’s almost a different universe that [the R-rated cut] lives in than this movie.” Snyder told the Associated Press in a video interview.
“The reason for that is because it’s such a philosophical thing to shoot a director’s cut of a movie before you finish this version,” Snyder went on. “All of my director’s cuts exist as a response to the things that were demanded of me to take out of the theatrical version, right? With [‘Rebel Moon’], that demand was never made. We knew this would be a PG-13 movie. In my heart of hearts, I always wanted it to be rated R, but you realize this sort of scale and cost of a movie and say, ‘Well, it’s not 100% responsible to have that demand.’”
In terms of business, it makes sense why Netflix wanted him to make a PG-13 version first, but this type of thinking is quite misguided. It’s clear that this is a hard R film he was forced down to PG-13. It’s a big component of why Rebel Moon isn’t receiving great reviews. Zack Snyder’s philosophy here is quite flawed.
The Mindset Behind Making A PG-13 Film
As previously stated, it’s not surprising that Netflix requested Snyder to make a PG-13 film. In total, Rebel Moon was made for $166 million. That’s blockbuster money. Traditionally speaking, films that reach such a peak are usually geared towards the mainstream audience. Just look at Marvel; all of their films are PG-13 for a reason. Same thing with DC or any other noticeable long-running franchise. There are exceptions to the rule. Deadpool is considered a widespread success despite being rated R. Joker proved that R-rated movies can make over a billion at the box office.
But Hollywood is a business first and foremost, so the consensus of Rebel Moon aiming to be a PG-13 film is quite sound. The problem is the notion that Snyder made two different films based on the cuts. The purpose of a director’s cut is usually to add deleted scenes that could give some better context to the story. It helped with Snyder’s Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. There are plenty of other movies that have benefitted from the director’s cut, but it appears that Snyder is blatantly telling us that his PG-13 version is the less superior one.
Zack Snyder Should’ve Focused On Making The PG-13 The Best Version Possible
Understandably, Snyder was at a crossroads. This was a movie that he’d been wanting to make for a long time, and realistically speaking, it was doubtfully that a major studio would give him the money he wanted to explore his r-rated fantasies to the fullest. That still doesn’t excuse focusing on the R-rated version more than the PG-13 version. Snyder should’ve sat down and remapped Rebel Moon where all of his wild and crazy ideas would’ve worked under the PG-13 scope.
This is the case with Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, where we know that the studio purposely held Snyder back from making the film that he truly wanted to release. For Rebel Moon, he understood the assignment beforehand and didn’t properly adjust the script to bring out the best of the film. The audience’s first glimpse of the feature is the Pg-13 version; if fans aren’t happy with the way the feature is now, what makes Snyder think that audiences will go out of their way to check out the alternate r-rated version? Given the feedback of Rebel Moon, he essentially wasted fans time with a cut that sounds inferior to the director’s version.
Zack Snyder’s Version Of Star Wars May Be Dead
It should be interesting to see how Part II is received when it’s released. However, Zack Snyder may have shot himself in the foot by releasing a generic film that you’ve seen a million times before. Do I generally believe that the R-rated cut is a wild, violent, and weird cut that could highlight the originality of Rebel Moon? Yes. But that should’ve been the case for the PG-13 version as it’s not impossible to make an original PG-13 sci-fi film. Zack Snyder may have killed his own Star Wars universe, and I don’t think that a director’s cut will save Rebel Moon this time.