By Nick Nitkowski

I can honestly say that I was excited to see “Rebel Moon” when I first heard about it. Zack Snyder’s rejected Star Wars story repurposed into his own unique world-building? After my appreciation of Snyder’s original vision of the Justice League movie that was unjustly tainted by the studio, I was on board to see what he could do with his own original IP. Needless to say, when the PG-13 version was presented on Netflix last year, I was met with disappointment as the story elements weren’t well executed along with action scenes that you can tell were meant to be R-rated, and some character design choices that were, let’s say… not so subtle. In fact, I was so disappointed that I didn’t even waste my time watching the PG-13 version of Part 2. But now we have the R-rated director’s cut! Snyder’s original vision was officially brought to light! Chock full of blood, boobs, and no-no words! So, does the R-rated version make these movies better?

In a way, the R-rated Director’s Cut versions are definitely better than the originally released PG-13 versions, which does beg the question as to why Netflix didn’t just release the R-rated version in the first place. However, all the issues that people had with these films are still very much present. Yes, there are a lot of new scenes presented in these versions and they do add a few things to the story, but these extra scenes don’t improve the overall story that much, in my personal opinion. 

The original versions were known as “Part I: The Child of Fire” and “Part II: Scargiver.” The titles have now officially been changed for the director’s cut versions. They are now known as “Part I: Chalice of Blood” and “Part II: The Curse of Forgiveness.” I personally think that the titles before are better because after watching the new versions, I don’t think the new titles make much sense to the stories. From what I recall, there is no MacGuffin called a Chalice of Blood, although one character did refer to someone as a Chalice of something else, but not Blood. In the Curse of Forgiveness, I can kind of see as many characters state forgiveness to a character just before executing them, so that makes a little more sense.

Fun fact: I never watched the original version of “Rebel Moon: Part II.” After being disappointed with the original version of Part 1, and with all the negative reviews surrounding it, I felt it better that I didn’t waste my time. So instead, I waited (not really) for the director’s cut version to be released so that I could spend 6 and a half hours watching both. So, everything presented in Part 2 was brand new to me.

I will say that the excessive violence did make the movie a lot more interesting to watch. Lots of blaster impacts that were super bloody. Headshots are some of the most brutal when you can see a new crater where a face used to be. There was also a lot of sexuality and nudity in these new versions. There was one sex scene in particular in Part 2 that went on a little bit too long to the point where I started asking myself, “Are they filming a movie or a softcore porno? Let’s wrap this scene up already.” And there was one scene involving the villain in Part 1 that was so eye-widely weird, that I literally do not have the words to describe it, but you’ll know it when you see it.

Overall, the director’s cut versions of “Rebel Moon” are an improvement over the original versions. But the issues that they’ve held are still very much present. From the overused slow-motion shots of everything from action scenes to the harvesting of grains, it does feel like it’s becoming too much usage and should probably be used more sparingly. The overall story is still not the best. So much so, in fact, that you can see why Lucasfilm didn’t want it to be part of their Star Wars brand.  The acting is nothing noteworthy. But even with all that being said, the director’s cut versions are this reviewer’s preferred versions. Snyder made the movies that he wanted to make and I will always applaud one for seeking to bring their vision to life and if they’re successful, there is a high chance that there will be more in the future. So, if you are a fan of “Rebel Moon” the director’s cut versions of Part 1 and 2 should provide a whole new viewing experience that will send you to the moon.

Part 1: Chalice of Blood – 2.5/5

Part 2: The Curse of Forgiveness – 2/5

Streaming on Netflix August 2nd