dbabicius's Replies
Saw it an hour ago. The visuals were stunning. The soundtrack was stunning. Loved the casting. Also loved how culturally alien it felt.
That being said, story-wise it felt somewhat lukewarm, and I hardly could connect with any characters the way I connected with them while reading the book, watching Lynch version (which I do not consider a good film) or even the cheesy mini-series (which I also do not consider a good series). Not because its cultural otherworldliness, but because this Dune seemed to lack the right emotional emphasis which makes me root for the protagonists and despise the villains. Take the baron. In the book and other cinematic adaptations the baron was a guy you loved to hate. He was sleazy, immoral and deliciously memorable. This version of the baron looked tired, as if he was constantly suffering from a bad case of hangover and wanted to be left alone. Even scheming and political games seemed a chore to him. Or take Paul. The previous versions of Paul seemed much more lively, spunky and desiring to get politically involved. The new Paul, on other hand, for me felt relatively uninterested and just going with the flow.
TL;DR: visually impressive. However, story and character-wise, it's as if the film wanted to be more subtle than its predecessors, but ended up being more restrained and phlegmatic. And not in a good way.
posted 3 years ago in Dune: Part One (2021)