Review of Dune (2021) by Dukejon — 30 Jun 2022
I'm a big fan of the books but this film left me cold. Too long and ponderous, too many flashback scenes, only half the book is covered. Half the time it feels rushed and the rest of the time it feels too slow.
It feels like the Atreides are only in Arrakeen half an hour before the attack. We don't get to see anything of the emperor, third stage guild navigators, folding space, etc. We see little of the Baron and nothing of the emperor or Feyd Rautha.
Wellington Yeuh and Thufir Hawat are barely in it, despite being important characters in the book. Instead we get endless premonitions of Chani and vistas of the desert. Jason Mamoa is great as Duncan Idaho, but all the other characters seem mis-cast, particularly Timothy Chalamet who is too wimpy to play a future ruler who will set the universe on fire with his war of Jihad.
He is dour and sulky throughout, as though he's just been told to tidy up his bedroom. Much like Blade runner 2049, also directed by Denis Villeneuve, the sets and scale are great but the protagonist spends most of his time gazing into the middle distance, pondering his "destiny".
Much prefer Lynch's 1984 version of Dune - far weirder with more memorable performances overall. Not only that, we got the whole book as well.
This review of Dune (2021) was written by Dukejon on 30 Jun 2022.
Dune has generally received very positive reviews.
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