Djimon Hounsou has been one of the most versatile actors who can be spotted somewhere in all the major franchises. From Marvel to DC, Kingsman, and Fast & Furious, the Beninese actor has been a part of several box office blockbusters. Recently he was seen in Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon as General Titus and it looks like Hounsou is highly pleased with the movie he has been a part of.
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire was one of the most anticipated projects in 2023. However, the space opera didn’t go well after it dropped on Netflix. The decision to release a PG-13 cut before the director’s cut was highly criticized and the movie also received backlash for pacing issues. But it looks like Djimon Hounsou wasn’t affected by that as he couldn’t stop praising Zack Snyder.
What did Djimon Hounsou say about Zack Snyder’s direction?
Rebel Moon was initially slated to be an R-rated Star Wars project before Disney rejected the pitch and Snyder planned to make it as a new franchise with Netflix. Unlike his previous DC fiasco, Netflix also gave him complete creative freedom for the universe. In the movie, Djimon Hounsou plays the role of General Titus.
In the first movie of Rebel Moon, Hounsou is introduced as General Titus, the former general of the Imperium who goes to seek redemption by fighting against the Motherworld. While speaking with Discussing Film about the pointers given by Snyder for his role, the Shazam actor praised the 300 director as a Bible. The actor spoke highly of the director and praised him for bringing cultural affinity to the character as well.
“Well, what points did he give me and what points did he not give me… it was everything. He’s literally the bible that we all tapped into to comprehend our backstories and the arcs of our characters. And so in particular, my character, the fact that he also brought a certain level of a cultural affinity to General Titus, and you will see that in Part Two where I sing a tribal song.”
Although we didn’t get to know much about General Titus in the first movie, he promised that it would be explored more in the second installment titled The Scargiver. The 59-year-old actor admitted that the second part is more appealing. Unlike the critics, Djimon Hounsou highly praised Zack Snyder‘s vision and the cast assembled by him.
The critics couldn’t show any love for Rebel Moon
Despite a certain difference between the audience and the critics’ ratings, Rebel Moon got a highly brutal rating from everywhere. The fans and the critics, nobody could understand the significance of a director’s cut for a movie released on an OTT platform. Several portions of the movie were cut in the PG-13 butchery.
Even though many fans came forward to support the movie and speak about how it will be more satisfying when the second movie comes out. However, the critics didn’t like the movie as a whole and deemed it dull and forgettable. Currently, the movie holds a 23% abysmal rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Unlike the critics, Djimon Hounsou praised the story of the movie and its relevance to our world. He came in defense of the director by supporting his writing (via Gizmodo). Now it is to be seen if the director’s cut improves the condition any further. The release date hasn’t been revealed yet but it is slated to release sometime around January 2024.
Rebel Moon can be streamed on Netflix.
