Is there anything left to write about Zack Snyder? He is a polarising figure in film communities, although I am unsure if polarising is the right word. “Polarising” tends to refer to filmmakers who present challenging “love-it-or-hate-it” content, or who address controversial topics. In Snyder’s case, the vigorous and oftentimes angry debate is over whether or not his films are actually any good, or if he himself has a reasonable amount of talent. It is a debate that has raged throughout his directorial career. Personally I tend to sit on the fence. I liked his 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, as I did his underrated Man of Steel trilogy of films (2013-21). On the other hand, his 300 (2007) and Watchmen (2009) adaptations left me cold, and I actively loathed his 2011 original Sucker Punch.

My personal bottom line is that Snyder has a strong visual aesthetic that tends to over-use CGI and slow motion, that he is a deft hand at replicating other people’s imagery, but that he has no story sense whatsoever. This is a shame, because I get the very strong impression that Snyder would not agree.

Rebel Moon is Snyder’s latest work, a much-hyped science fiction epic broken into two parts (the second comes next April). It sees an interplanetary military force arrive at a remote agrarian community and violently demand they hand over all of their harvest. With no way for the community to defend itself, a solo representative travels to the neighbouring planets in the search of soldiers and mercenaries who will come to their aid.

If the premise sounds familiar, it is because it is: Akira Kurosawa filmed it in 1954 as Seven Samurai. Or perhaps you recognise it from John Sturges’ 1960 remake The Magnificent Seven. Or from John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton’s A Bug’s Life (1998), which liberally lifts from the original story as well. As does Dean Parisot’s Galaxy Quest (1999), Tsui Hark’s Seven Swords (2005), and – most pertinently – Jimmy T. Murakami’s sci-fi potboiler Battle Beyond the Stars (1980). Even Gareth Edwards’ 2016 Star Wars feature Rogue One cribs liberally from Kurosawa’s original playbook. The point is that for all of Netflix’s hyping of Rebel Moon as an exciting new space opera, it is actually based on pretty well-furrowed ground.

This is not necessarily a bad thing: as all of the previous films mentioned have demonstrated, the execution of an old story is as much a key to success as the story itself. With enormous scope to remix and innovate, Snyder has instead gathered together a painfully obvious collection of- I hesitate to write ‘influences’, as that seems to give Snyder too much credit. ‘Things to photocopy and then mash together’ feels rather more appropriate. Star Wars is a very dominant influence, but it is also easy to see imagery cribbed from a wide range of anime productions, Korean cinema, and the popular wargame Warhammer 40,000. In most cases this assembled pastiche inspires a bored over-familiarity rather than any sense of remix or play. The film is generic pulp, which will likely find an undemanding audience but reeks of missed opportunities. It is also particularly unsubtle: its villain (played by Ed Skrein) does not simply resemble a Nazi like Star Wars‘ galactic empire, he is literally dressed as one.

There is an oddly talented cast here, including Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, and Anthony Hopkins, but they are left hanging by a screenplay that does not provide them with any material to build upon. My advice? Watch Battle Beyond the Stars. At the time of writing it is streaming on Amazon Prime, it offers the same basic story, has its own talented cast including John Saxon, George Peppard, and Robert Vaughn, and never tries to pretend it is anything more than shameless pulp entertainment. It also provides a complete story with beginning, middle, and end – Rebel Moon demands you come back in four months for that. I imagine more than a few viewers will not bother.