FOR 20 YEARS, ZACK SNYDER HAS UNLEASHED HIS VERY SPECIFIC BRAND OF GODS AND MONSTERS, PROVOKING STRONG REACTIONS WITHOUT FAIL. AS REBEL MOON — PART TWO: THE SCARGIVER PREPARES FOR LAUNCH, WE PUT HIM IN FRONT OF HIS MOST SPIRITED AUDIENCE YET: YOU

WORDS CHRIS HEWITT

NEIL JAMIESON

@DCUMOVIEPAGE

NOT THAT YOU’D know it to look at him, necessarily, but Zack Snyder recently turned 58. The celebrations were “quiet, but good”, he tells Empire when we speak to him a couple of days later in early March. “Quiet” might come as something of a surprise to anyone who’s tracked the director’s career. Snyder kicked things off by chronicling the world crashing to its doom with that sensational opening sequence of Dawn Of The Dead in 2004, and the Baron Of Bombast has not let up since, marshalling mayhem aplenty in the likes of 300, Watchmen, and his entries in the DCEU (Man Of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, and Justice League, with his four-hour cut finally released after a lengthy delay).

Most recently, he unveiled his Netfli-xbacked sci-fi magnum opus, Rebel Moon —Part One: A Child Of Fire. His work has not always been critically well-received, nor universally beloved by audiences (want a fun night on social media, just mention Justice League and wait for the arguments to start), but what seems inarguable is that Snyder is one of modern cinema’s most distinctive visualists, with an eye (and an ear) for a stunning set-piece.

On the eve of the release of Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver, we got on the phone with the ever-affable filmmaker and, for an hour, bombarded him with questions. Not our questions, mind. Your questions, from Snyder-bros and Snyder-sceptics alike, running the gamut through his career. His answers? Quiet, but good.

With Rebel Moon —Part 2, from a rating of one to 11, how much insanity are we talking ? 

JEFFREY WARFIELD JR

I feel like it’s probably an 11, because it’s pure insanity. And when you’re gonna go for insanity, the purest insanity is the best kind of insanity to go for. We haven’t seen real war yet and that’s what we’re gonna get a taste of.