When watching movies, I always try to differentiate between my personal enjoyment and the inherent merits of the movies. There are a lot of bad movies, which I totally and thoroughly enjoy watching, and some really great movies, which I don’t enjoy that much, but still can respect/appreciate.
With this prelude, I totally do not get the positive reactions to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies. At the time I am writing this question, part two has 94% critique and 95% audience score at Rotten Tomatoes, 9.0 at IMDB.
In my opinion, Dune 1 and Dune 2 have obviously high production values and good special effects. What I do not like is the acting, the pacing, the total flat/simple characters and the whole narration, which is for me a trivial love story between Chani and Paul, plus becoming a leader and get some revenge. I could simply replace the ‘Dune’ theme with a standard war theme and a few tribes, and I would have exactly the same movie. Also the battle scenes at the end of part 2, they are for me totally cookie cutter war movie/battle aesthetics. (Total waste: There are big Sandworms after all, and combat with personal shields etc.).
My question is, especially if you very much enjoyed watching the Dune movies:
- Why did you personally enjoy the movie?
- Do you think this movies have some inherent merits?
- How do you like the acting/plot/pacing?
I loved the original book. I just think it’s unfilmable. A lot of it is about getting inside peoples heads to hear their thoughts and machinations.
I found the art direction, costuming, and casting of Lynch’s movies brilliant. Even the soundtrack was a nice surprise.
But the new movies seem very sterile, slow, and dull. I’ve also never understood people’s fascination with Chalmet. I find his performances to be just fair.
The movies have made money, so they are talking about making more of them from the second and third books. I think this is a mistake because the story in the sequels really goes off the rails. I do look forward to laughing at Chalmet playing Mr. Worm Dude.
I think the Bene Gesserit tv show they’re making sounds like a far better plan. The “fill in the blanks” backstories in the Dune universe are interesting, and leave more room for original storytelling.
I loved the original book. I just think it’s unfilmable. A lot of it is about getting inside peoples heads to hear their thoughts and machinations.
I found the art direction, costuming, and casting of Lynch’s movies brilliant. Even the soundtrack was a nice surprise.
This!
I really enjoyed the first 3 Dune books for the peoples heads. For me, Dune loses its direction a little bit later, in the following books.
I also totally enjoyed Lynch’s movie, quite bold and an experience.
Yeah, seeing Mr. God Worm Dude will have me rushing to the cinema! :-)
Yeah I loved the effects and the cinematography, I mean that’s what makes new movies fantastic… it’s a showcase of how real we can get things to look.
But the books were filled from cover to cover with worldbuilding that’s a whole lot more than vistas. There’s reasons and motivations that lead you to where the story begins and a failure to grasp at least some of those (Butlerian Jihad, Bene Gesserit, Guild Navigators and ofc the SPICE) leaves you with what @reddig33 said.
But the new movies seem very sterile, slow, and dull.
They are rote action movies that fail to evoke any real emotion, and that’s a shame.
