There's something hugely distracting going on by releasing two versions. And honestly, I suspect that is likely as much Zack Snyder’s idea as it was Netflix’s. I think Snyder liked the idea because he saw the opportunity to do something very creative with it that has never been done before by any filmmaker. The R-rated version is the film that Snyder actually wanted to make. It’s the original, raw, untamed vision as it exists in his own mind, living like a creature “in the wild.” Here the “natural world” is a highly personalized inner vision. Whereas the PG13 version is basically compromised—even if just by Zack’s own hand in this case—in order to conform to market pressures. It is a “domesticated” version based on Zack’s notion of what studios believe will be most successful. That is, I believe, the message of the scene of Tarak taming the Bennu.
But anyway, for me, Rebel Moon is actually a pretty good story. And I like the characters. There are derivative aspects that are intentional but that’s fine. The grandfather of the genre, 1977 Star Wars, did that whole hog. (Although tbh I also don’t need to have my face rubbed in that either.)
The Heavy Metal pulp stylistic aspects… and saturation of genre tropes and allusions… are in some ways a distraction to me, though. What matters at the end of the day is a good story arc, character development, and likable characters. I feel like those are there with Rebel Moon. I really don’t need to see gratuitous sex and violence. And obvious nods to other films and exaggerations of genre tropes. I’m not really into that in other films tbh. I just want to see the “good bones” that I find to Rebel Moon developed more sincerely and straightforwardly from here on out. I want to see this thing open up into a richly developed new fantasy universe to explore.
