Rebel Moon: After harsh reviews for the sci-fi film, trolls and bots are apparently driving up the rating

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Currently, you should take the average user scores for Rebel Moon 1 with a grain of salt. Obviously there are persistent Snyder fans and trolls at work here

The big sci-fi hope from Netflix disappoints at least with the first part many critics: the first part of Rebel Moon currently has an average score of 32 points on Metacritic and only 23 on Rotten Tomatoes It is of course striking: Viewers award significantly more points here.

So Child of Fire gets an average of 64 percent among fans at Metacritic and 73 percent at Rotten Tomatoes. But where does this discrepancy come from? We summarize for you why these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.

Is Rebel Moon really that bad/good?

Rebel Moon Part 1: Child of Fire doesn’t actually start on Netflix until December 22 or 23, 2023 However, as the film has already been shown in selected cinemas in the USA, users of both rating portals can now also submit their ratings

By the way: You can find the official trailer for Rebel Moon here.

A quick glance reveals: Not all, but a remarkable number of viewer reviews come with strikingly exuberant ratings. For example, some users give Rebel Moon 1 an impressive five out of five points, which leads to an exciting discrepancy with the critics’ ratings:

Of course, it is not unusual for the tastes of film critics and moviegoers to diverge (widely) from time to time. What is striking about Rebel Moon, however, is that some user profiles only give films by Zack Snyder five out of five or ten out of ten points (such as here and here) and have otherwise rated few to no other big screen flicks.

Some user reviews make no secret of rewarding Rebel Moon with high percentages out of defiance towards the critics’ ratings or loyalty to Zack Snyder. For example Dave S. (who has also only rated Child of Fire on Rotten Tomatoes) writes:

Such a good movie. You can tell from the beginning that a movie is going to be good by taking a look at Rotten Tomatoes. If they [the critics] rate it poorly, [the movie] will probably be good. Zac [Snyder] gets too much hate.

What could be behind the curious Rebel Moon ratings

Are there Snyder bots at work? On social media, specifically X (formerly Twitter), this has already caused a stir. For example Officer Martinez identified that bots were probably behind it. This would not be a new phenomenon among fans of Zack Snyder 

For example a Rolling Stone report from 2022revealed that the massive ReleaseTheSnyderCut fan campaign for Justice League was fueled by fake accounts and bots. It seems quite obvious that something similar is now happening with Rebel Moon.

Of course, the fan reviews for Child of Fire also include numerous honest user reviews that judge fairly and award appropriate ratings. In some cases, however, there are also direct criticisms of Snyder’s fans, for example half stars in direct contrast to the full five. This may explain the fluctuating user score on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.

What else you should know about Rebel Moon

This means you should above all: View the current average ratings on established critics’ sites with a healthy dose of skepticism. From December 23, 2023, you’ll be able to see Rebel Moon Part 1: Child of Fire for yourself.

How do you feel about established review portals such as Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic: Do you take a look at them before a movie or series release or do you do without them altogether? How meaningful are the average critic and review scores in your eyes? Let us know in the comments!