Is Rebel Moon the new Star Wars? An exclusive clip of the Netflix movie sees mixed reactions

Tarak bows down to a hippogriff-like animal in Netflix's Rebel Moon
(Image credit: Netflix)

It's been an interesting week for Rebel Moon, the forthcoming Netflix and cinema release from Zack Snyder. Newly released footage from IGN shows the Bennu, the griffin-inspired creature that looks like something from a Harry Potter film, in an exclusive clip from the film.  

The three and a half minute clip, which you can watch below, is from the space opera's first film in the trilogy, Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire, and it's fair to say that at the moment, the Bennu would probably get the higher Rotten Tomatoes rating for this new Netflix movie.

The early reviews of Snyder's sci-fi fantasy epic are pretty much what you'd expect from a new Snyder film: some people really, really loved it, and others weren't so sure. The most common criticism, which is something you often see at the beginning of a new franchise, is that the first episode spends a little too much time world-building and not quite enough time storytelling.

What are people saying about Rebel Moon

Digital Spy has been following the early viewers on social media to get a feel for the general reaction, and quotes Comic Book Movie's Mark Cassidy as saying that while he wanted to love the film, "after a promising first act it launches itself off a cliff. Zack Snyder is more concerned with 'cool' action scenes than establishing and ensuring we're invested in his characters". Reviewer Linda Marric said that it's "a film in which characters start the film speaking in one accent and end it in a completely different one", while Why Now's Maria Lattile said it's "visually very handsome and flows well but suffers from Part One syndrome".s

Gamesradar's Molly Edwards was one of the more positive voices. It's "quite simply epic," she says. "Massive scale, beautiful visuals (of course), awesome action, and some really fascinating mythology." While there is indeed lots of set-up for the next episodes, "it's still very satisfying as its own movie".

It'll be interesting to see how reviews differ between the cinematic cut, which will be shorter, and the Netflix cut – and later, between the Netflix cut and the Netflix director's cut, which promises to be bigger and more adult and very, very long. For now, you can find out much more about Rebel Moon's plot, cast, release dates and more in our full Rebel Moon guide. 

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Carrie Marshall
Contributor

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.

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