Zack Snyder has a mixed history as a director: "The Watchmen" was good, but I'm less enthusiastic about "300" and "Sucker Punch" is a significant (if admittedly visually stunning) failure. On this movie Snyder was all of Director, Writer, Producer, and Director of Photography. To my eye, he's most qualified for that last role. Unfortunately, he also thinks he's good at shaping stories - which I'd say he soundly disproved on this outing.
I knew we were in trouble right out of the gate: when you need a long opening voice-over to explain the politics of the Imperium (because the writer is too unskilled to work it into the story-telling of the movie), you've got major problems. Highly reminiscent of the opening explanatory text of "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" (remember the excitement you felt at hearing about trade embargoes in the introduction to that movie? Neither do I.)
Our lead is Kora (Sofia Boutella), who we first meet as a farmer in a small village on a moon on the outskirts of the Imperium. But we're quickly told she's not a native, having come from outside a few years ago. When evil admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein - digging himself further into the pit of bad-guy stereotyping) and his massive warship arrive, he explains (violently) that he'll be back in a few days expecting nearly all of their harvest (leaving them to starve). Kora decides to leave quietly, but when several soldiers attempt to rape one of the town's young women, Kora shows an incredible skill as a warrior. She then sets out to round up warriors to help them fight the Imperium warship when it returns.
The rest of the movie is essentially an SF re-implementation of the first half of "Seven Samurai" as she and others go from planet to planet collecting brave and famous warriors for their cause. The movie is reminiscent of every SF movie that came before it: the influence of the "Star Wars" franchise is most visible (particularly the Cantina scene of the original movie), but Snyder borrowed from "Alita: Battle Angel," "Bladerunner," and countless others.
Snyder has, as mentioned, a certain visual flair. But cheesy dialogue, ill-drawn characters, and strip-mining the rest of the SF canon for your content make this a weak outing.