Dune Reboot Happening

[JoeS]

Part 2 thoughts:

DUNE PART TWO (2024) Theaters.
When DUNE Part One debuted, I gave it a grade of 'Incomplete'. It was decent, well-mounted, but there wasn't enough that was definitive to give it final marks. With Part Two, Director Denis Villenueve earns a solid passing grade.

After a brief prologue, which introduces Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan (this also functions as a tidy recap), the new entry picks up with Paul Atreidies (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) who have joined forces with Chani (Zendaya), Stilgar (Javier Bardem) and the Freman.

Villenueve and Jon Spaiht's script improves on the pacing of the original, managing to weave in new plot developments and important new characters such as the Emperor (Christopher Walker) and the menacing nephew Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) of Baron Harkonnen (a returning Stellan Skarsgard) . The screenplay is still burdened with much exposition and some of the dialogue rings flat. The cast does their best with Butler and Pugh making the strongest impressions of the newcommers. Ferguson is excellent once again. Chalamet is better than in the first half, and grows into the role. Unfortunately, Bardem and Walken are saddled with lesser material.

As a combined film, DUNE is an impressive achievement on a grand scale. Some of the Greig Fraser's cinematography is a bit too murky at times, but otherwise quite solid. The production design, sound, costumes, VFX, Zimmer's score - all set a high standard.

For hard SF fans, the fantasy elements may create a certain distance with their amorphous and seemingly flexible rules. Unless one is truly steeped in Frank Herbert's mythos, the details often create more confusion than cohesion; Not to mention that the 'ending' truly isn't -- as there are five more original books to go. For all the criticism the 1984 David Lynch version gets, he did manage to distill it into a coherent enough film that runs less than two and a half hours. The collective Dune here runs over five. Obviously, there are many more details explored, but there are times where it hinders the overall dramatic rhythm.

All that noted, Villeneuve can hold his head up high. His two-parter is a good attempt at adapting a dense series of novels which have gained their own mythic status. If there are to be more Dune filmed adaptations, Villenueve can walk away proud of his accomplishment.

[Dom D]

Oh yeah!!! A trailer for the trailer! Apparently the trailer trailer is coming tomorrow! Trailer!

. . .fuck me gently with a chainsaw...

[Ian Jane]

Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken have been added to the cast for Dune 2.

https://cinemachords.com/florence-pu...-cast-members/

[Darcy Parker]

Watched this over the weekend and really enjoyed it. The visuals are so strong. Jason Mamoa might not be a great actor though.

He is good at playing Jason Momoa, and that is about the limit of it.

[Ian Jane]

Watched this over the weekend and really enjoyed it. The visuals are so strong. Jason Mamoa might not be a great actor though.

[Randy G]

I quite liked it but I'm a big fan of the Lynch film and the first book.

[Darcy Parker]

holy shit, what an empty shell of a movie.

nothing really happens! I was bored out of my skull for most of the running time. the biggest problem is, it doesn't work as a stand alone movie. it's more like an overlong teaser for part 2. even the ending just kind of fizzles out. no cliffhanger, no epic battle, nothing.

I wonder how they could get away with this?

maybe that villeneuve guy is just a hack... his blade runner sequel was a soulless, sterile piece of shit with a fart soundtrack, that had nothing worthwhile to add to the franchise.

this is more of the same!

I think it's just Villeneuve's style, honestly. The guy just sucks ass.

[killer must kill again]

holy shit, what an empty shell of a movie.

nothing really happens! I was bored out of my skull for most of the running time. the biggest problem is, it doesn't work as a stand alone movie. it's more like an overlong teaser for part 2. even the ending just kind of fizzles out. no cliffhanger, no epic battle, nothing.

I wonder how they could get away with this?

maybe that villeneuve guy is just a hack... his blade runner sequel was a soulless, sterile piece of shit with a fart soundtrack, that had nothing worthwhile to add to the franchise.

this is more of the same!

[agent999]

The rich are idiots, Jodorowsky's Dune storyboards sell for 2.7MM.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/202...-sell-for-266m

[JoeS]

DUNE: Part One: The Exposition - As if creating a sequel to one of the biggest cult sci-f films of the 80s wasn't enough of a challenge, Denis Villenueve has followed BLADE RUNNER 2049 with the sort of 'Don Quixote' of science fiction - Frank Herbert's Dune. Going all the way back to the early 70s, filmmakers as varied as David Lean, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Ridley Scott and Peter Berg have tried to tackle it. David Lynch's famously disliked version came out in 1984, and has slowly gained a cult following. There was also a TV mini-series.

The title on screen (if not in the advertising) includes the words, “Part One”. Take heed those who are unfamiliar with the material - it really feels like half a movie. It's all extremely well made with gargantuan sets, superbly rendered costumes, good make-up and hair design and fine special effects (even if they are more sparse than may be expected considering the settings).

Villeneuve and his co-writers Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth may have a grand take on Herbert's story in mind, but, it never truly takes off in this initial entry. Even considering that it only covers half the book, it feels constrained. Big sweeping landscapes, yet they somehow feel cramped and 'small'. The biggest issue is that the screenplay is extremely episodic. You can almost read the chapter headings (and visualize the gaps at the end of each chapter). Say what you will about Lynch's film, it felt mostly complete (and Herbert praised it for that). Here, even the various episodes, even those that are labored and drawn out, never truly play as complete. Everything seems like a set-up for Part II (even if some of the characters and situations won't be addressed there). It's exposition without clarity.

The large cast is mostly good, with Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Atreides taking the acting honors. Oscar Isaac is his reliable self as Duke Atreides and Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and Jason Momoa provide sturdy support. Poor Stellen Skarsgard is asked to do a version of Brando's Kurtz as Baron Harkonnen and Stephen McKinley Henderson has the tall order of trying to match Freddie Jones' eccentric Thufir Hawat from the 1984 film. Sharon Duncan-Brewster makes an impact as Dr. Kynes. Zendaya hasn't much to do in Part One as Chani. But, it is Timothee Chalamet's take on central character Paul Atreides that is the most problematic. Chalamet overdoes the callow youth depiction in the early sections of the movie, and never quite reaches the maturity the character requires even by the midpoint where this film ends. Even worse, by tossing some of his lines off nonchalantly, the modern colloquialisms are even more out of place than they surely were on the page.

Part One almost by definition requires an “Incomplete” for its grade. There are some reasons to be hopefully for the concluding half, even if they are outweighed by the doubts.

[Dom D]

Im not the target audience on this one so take my take with a grain of salt. Its not a lot of fun. Its very sombre. Takes itself super seriously. All the characters whisper to each other while ominous music plays over the top. Its humourless. Sexless. It looks great. It should of course because 90% of it got rendered out of a 3d engine. That Chamalat kid... enigmatic or wooden?

[The Silly Swede]

So, a Denis Villeneuve movie, then.

And not one of his best either.

[Darcy Parker]

Saw this tonight (in the cinema). Kind of mediocre. Very good looking, but very shallow and sterile. Not bad, but not very good either. It just was. And for me who has read the book and seen the earlier adaptations this new adaptation really brought nothing new to the table.

So, a Denis Villeneuve movie, then.

[The Silly Swede]

Saw this tonight (in the cinema). Kind of mediocre. Very good looking, but very shallow and sterile. Not bad, but not very good either. It just was. And for me who has read the book and seen the earlier adaptations this new adaptation really brought nothing new to the table.

[mwynn]

So, what the hell -- is this thing day/date on HBO Max again? It's listed as being available on HBO Max in the trailer.

What a marketing clusterfuck. Can't imagine Villeneuve is happy.

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/d...os-1234851270/

Dune' Director Denis Villeneuve Blasts HBO Max Deal (EXCLUSIVE)