4/10
It's been a few months since I saw the movie, so my review is based upon residual feelings and impressions.
What a pile of pompous hollow eye candy. There is little revisit value.
I gave the 2021 Part-1 movie a generous rating of 6/10 because (at the time) I was probably impressed by the inevitable results of the big budget. However, I was severely irritated by the changed dialogue and plot arcs of major characters.
We were promised that Part-2 would bring everything together and accelerate to a spectacular action climax. Well, I guess it sort of did, but the journey was glacial and the climax was a fizzle.
The overall feeling I get from the movie is a sense of bloated indulgence that failed to produce the memorable epic that Villeneuve probably expected.
The pacing was terrible and wasted time where important plot points and character development could have been tastefully inserted. I was quite bored at many times, especially during the many face-to-face encounters between various characters as they attempted to spill exposition which seemed targeted at an audience who might have no idea about the Dune universe. A few times I saw two people walk into a dark room and I said "oh no, more goddamn tedious dialogue" and I skipped until the next scene. Normally I would be severely chastised for skipping parts of a new movie, but not this time, which hints that I wasn't the only bored person.
Even the action scenes failed to impress me much. Super laser beam weapons were suddenly introduced (off screen) without warning, and they weren't even integrated into the plot properly. War technology and tactics were used in jumbled and silly ways. Everyone was running around shooting and stabbing, and it didn't look much better than an old TV episode of Stargate.
Important characters in the Dune books were missing or added, or their importance and interactions were changed. I think Villeneuve did this simply to allow the hiring of more glamorous actors and promote interest in more sequels where the new characters could be developed.
Major plot points were changed. The Baron did not kill the Duke, it was his twisted mentat henchman. The climactic fight between Paul and Feyd was accurately depicted in the 1984 movie, but was cartoonish in the new movie: Oh no, good guy is down and the sneering baddie is about to strike the deadly blow... but no, our hero suddenly strikes back and saves the day. The interaction between Paul and the Fremen was confusingly different, as was Paul's journey to become a Jedi and his relationship with Chani.
The 'baddies' were also stupidly cartoonish, especially the Baron, Feyd and Rabban. After they killed so many of their own people out of malice or misdirected anger, I was making jokes about reporting an unsafe workplace to the Emperor. The development of Feyd's evil character was tediously overcooked in the black-and-white arena scenes (was that supposed to be artistic?). At one point I thought I was watching an ad for a new movie. Did you see the digital arena crowds?
Oh, poor Javier Barden. His short appearance in the first movie was powerful, but now he's been reduced to a comic foil, like Gimli in The Lord of the Rings.
The film has generally received rave reviews and praise from famous industry figures. Most of them praise the atmosphere and the visuals which create an enjoyable big-screen experience. I'll admit that I did enjoy some parts of the movie (on a small screen), but mainly when world-building of the book was accurately depicted, or when some tantalising Sci-Fi elements were tastefully introduced. The final big battle mostly happened off-screen and suddenly the movie ended. And in the end, I was left with a hollow feeling because I didn't learn more about the Dune universe of the books and the diverse characters that inhabit it.
The movie is so long and has so many boring parts that I feel no compulsion to deliberately watch it again. Maybe one night if I just happen to be in a bored and curious mood, I might play it back and just watch the 'good' bits.
Back to: Movies