Netflix's most expensive movie of 2023 is off to an absolutely terrible start with reviews

If there's one thing that is extremely apparent, it's that an enormous budget does not necessarily mean that a film or series will be well-received.

A prime example is Amazon's Rings of Power series, which got a lukewarm reception from critics and audiences despite costing more $460 million.

Now it seems that the series is being joined by Netflix's most expensive film of the year.

Netflix

Rebel Moon is part one of two of a story which follows a corrupt central government on the 'Motherworld' and a growing rebel resistance on the more distant worlds. Nothing like Star Wars or Firefly then.

In fact, the Star Wars comparison makes sense as Zack Snyder reportedly pitched the idea to Lucasfilm as a Star Wars project, but was turned down.

Instead, the film's backstory has been reshuffled into its own mythology and backstory to give us Rebel Moon.

Critics have already praised the cinematography and visuals brought by Snyder, bringing his distinctive style from the DC Universe.

They also drew comparisons with the classic movie Seven Samurai.

But it seems that high budgets and special effects have not been enough to carry Rebel Moon on their own, as it racked up a dismal 19 percent on movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes since releasing.

It seems that the whopping budget of $166 million has not led to critical acclaim, with the project getting a thorough mincing from initial reviews.

The Independent called it 'Star Wars for people who think those movies are too political and don’t feature enough sexual violence'.

Meanwhile, The Guardian said it 'has only the vaguest contours of ambition, diminished by a half-assedness dinkifying the latest CGI-jammed saga to decide the fate of the universe'.

Ouch.

Netflix

A review from the BBC said: "The goodies are straightforward goodies, and the baddies are straightforward baddies, and you can usually tell which is which by how attractive they are."

Nonetheless, critics did praise the film's visuals, including some more inventive takes on how alien species might be visualised that goes a bit beyond gluing prosthetics to actors and giving them some blue face paint.

Audience members also made their own comments, with many saying the same thing.

One wrote: "Audience will score 90+ . The bunch of critics can't be judge movie."

Another posted: "Audience score about to be 90%."

It's not unheard of, as there is often a big disparity between critics' reviews and audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

Rebel Moon is available to stream on Netflix.