Rebel Moon often reads more like a mood board than a movie, but were that the only issue in this first entry, there’s a chance it would have been better received. When he inadvertently leads imperial soldiers of the Motherworld to their peaceful home on Veldt, he and Kora set off to recruit warriors who can aid them in taking a stand.

Through Sofia Boutella’s Kora, Rebel Moon answers the question Star Wars obsessives have already asked: what if Luke Skywalker (or, perhaps more fittingly, Leia Organa) had been raised by Darth Vader? She finds a fitting foil in Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), a naive farmboy who dreams of adventure in all the wrong places (another easy parallel to Luke Skywalker). That Snyder cribs so eagerly from Star Wars is a make-or-break aspect of Rebel Moon, as the director relies on our familiarity with the archetypes Lucas helped define and popularize. The parallels between Snyder’s world and George Lucas’ are admittedly forthright, but comparisons to that galaxy far away can actually enrich the film where it needs it the most, and even highlight the one thing the Star Wars franchise still hasn’t gotten right.

For better or worse, it is the quintessential Snyder movie, with oodles of slow motion and an R-rated director’s cut already waiting in the wings. Audiences aren’t really digging Rebel Moon, Zack Snyder’s supposed answer to sci-fi epics like Star Wars.

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