Saw
Dune Part II at the massive Dolby DLX theater yesterday afternoon. So, right off the bat, I will say that as far as a cinematic experience, a visual and aural spectacle, this gets an easy
+. Just a tremendous achievement in that regard, with all four of the people I went with being completely blown away. The seamless blending of practical and computer effects, the score, the absolutely massive scale all combine to present something that is truly epic in every sense of the word. A must-see in cinemas, and a resounding argument for the continued support of film as a big-screen experience. The visual effects are the best I have even seen in a film.
Does that perfect plus rating hold up for the rest of the film? It does not. While most of the actors did a tremendous job with the material, especially Chalamet, Bardem, and Butler, others such as Walken and Bautista just sort of played themselves. Even worse, Zendaya was miscast; she was unable to bring the necessary seriousness and gravitas to the role, and delivered many of her lines sounding like a post-modern teen. I was disappointed in her performance, and really wish they had cast someone else. Ferguson was good, but was painted into a corner with a voiceover used to deliver exposition in the same way Lynch employed it in the 1984 version. Apparently Dune can't be put to screen without having to do this.
The rest of the cast was good, even if some of them, due to their sparse appearance in the source material, didn't have much to do. Lastly, Villeneuve's choice to shorten the amount of time in which all the events take place had him using the character Alia in a very odd way, I am still deciding what I think of that. Oddly, I didn't mind the almost entirely new take on Chani's character, as I always found her unquestioning devotion to Paul in the book to be kind of a thin characterization. My issues with Chani here are entirely with the performance of the actress.
As far all the intricacies of the Fremen culture and political machinations on the whole? Pretty much nailed it. He was never going to get it all on screen, and I think it would have been unwieldy and perhaps a bit boring if he did. The way it was handled made me realize how Lynch's version pretty much entirely failed in this regard, painting the Fremen as monolithic and shallow in comparison.
Dune Part II is a film mostly about the Fremen, and I think that was the good choice.
At the center of it all is Paul, and the success of the film rested squarely on the shoulders of the actor playing him. Like many people, I wondered if Chalamet would be able to transform from the wispy fop from the first film into the commanding and intimidating character he would need to portray in the second. He did, and then some. Hell, I wanted to follow the guy into battle by the end of the film. He totally nailed it.
Anyway, my overall rating for the film should probably be a
, but I am going to go with a
due to the sheer magnitude of the spectacle and clear dedication to presenting the very best version of a cinematic Arrakis possible. For the enitre run time, I felt as if I was on that planet. My desert...my Dune!