Dune

I didn't think that I would end up agreeing with the more reserved reviews of Villeneuve's Dune (it was by far the most anticipated film of the year for me too). After all the colourful crappy blockbusters from Disney, Marvel and Netflix, it's really refreshing to see something expensive and adult in the cinema that doesn't try to pander to stupid teenagers. Dune is also definitely well made in terms of craftmanship, visual effects, and production design; there is no question that this is an exceptionally refined work in terms of aesthetics – looking at those paintings is a treat, even if their beauty is quite austere. And yet, I can’t bring myself to be thrilled. The first half still offered hopes of it with the introduction of the space politics, the various secret plans and intrigues, which had me reliably hooked and looking forward to seeing how it all would build up. But in the second half we suddenly end up looking into the desert and the film lost me. And that’s probably due to the fact that it failed to establish any kind of bond with the characters; they are all so cold; I just couldn’t enjoy it, even with Chalamet, whom I otherwise like a lot. The character played by Jason Momoa is apparently supposed to serve as the "heart of the film", but we don't really get to know him at all! His relationship with Chalamet is built purely on the basis of a few friendly hugs, otherwise, we don't get know anything about him because we haven’t gone through anything with them. And that's how it is with everybody, and it's hard to develop an emotional bond with them. The only thing you can potentially grasp in the first Dune are emotions, because the "plot" manages to start but doesn't come to anything ("It begins" is a really fitting slogan for the poster). But action is not one of Villeneuve’s strengths. (21/10/2021)

This will sound biased, but go see the new Dune at the cinema. Only there will it properly roar and fulfil its essence as an extreme sensory work. The imposing sights of gargantuan proportions, where the human characters’ smallness is manifested in relation to the vast surrounding space that they vainly attempt to conquer, are combined with a practically constant mass of sound, which completes the tangible crushing effect and poetic beauty of the worlds contained in the film. The rigorous aesthetic dramaturgy perfectly holds all of the creative talents of the film’s individual elements on the reins of the paramount vision. This is what comprises the essence and exceptionalism of Villeneuve in comparison with most other directors of big-budget projects in recent decades. Filmmakers such as Luc Besson and even George Lucas are easily intoxicated by their collaborators and populate their films with an overabundance of details that draw attention to themselves at the expense of the whole. Villeneuve, on the other hand, bears comparison to Stanley Kubrick, David Fincher and other filmmakers who are able to set out a unified vision and make full use of others to fulfil it. The central storyline is basically simple and mainly presents the potential for subsequent development and even subversion in accordance with Herbert’s saga. The seemingly simple story about the coming of the messiah is topped off with the motif of faith and religion as a power construct working with prefabricated stories in which the personalities of individuals are diluted and subjected to a defined and indoctrinated destiny. In his previous film, Blade Runner 2049, Villeneuve had already brilliantly shattered the myth of the “chosen one”, which to a large extent forms the essential foundation Western (pop) culture. In the case of Dune, however, he conjures up a sprawling epic, in which the first film plants the seeds from which the trees of the next film (or films) will grow. It thus shouldn’t come as a surprise that the director had concerns that in the current situation the film would not make money in the cinemas and that the overarching vision developed through several films would be nipped in the bud. This is indeed just the beginning and it is so exciting to be a witness to it. (20/10/2021)

Denis Villeneuve is certainly a director who has a lot to offer to the film industry, but unfortunately I wasn't enchanted by Dune. I don't know the book or the original film, so I didn't know what to expect, but I'm not too happy with the final result. At first glance Dune seemed attractive, it presents an interestingly imagined world, though it's definitely not another Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings. more like another Star Wars, only more sophisticated. Visually, Dune was impressive until the action came along; unfortunately, but I've seen nothing worse in that regard. The fights looking like something out of The Power Rangers (those red and blue flashing shields on the characters was a heavily distracting element for me), making the already lackluster PG-13 action even more distracting. The second installment is supposed to promise a spectacular battle. Well, if it's going to flash like it did here, they'd better stick to the politics, because that was far more interesting. The Sand Worm looked nice, but considering that it took two years to make, I expected more than a 30-second shot. I have to praise the cast, even if there wasn't much left for the second part. The music didn't impress me much (did bagpipes play during the battle?), the pace is very slow, it drags awfully especially in the second half, the emotions are missing, the plot is not completely stupid, but it's almost impossible to pick up all the genders, names and titles without knowing the source material, and I won't watch Dune again voluntarily. I'm afraid this new world-building will pass me by, as there wasn't a single WOW scene that made me want to watch Dune again, and I don't even have much to show my friends. I'll stick with a neutral unenthusiastic 3 stars for the visuals and the actors who played their part. Story 4/5, Action 1/5, Humor 1/5, Violence 0/5, Fun 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 1/5, Actors 4/5. 6/10. (21/10/2021)

Unprecedented in scale and richness, but unfortunately at least a step backward in everything else. I want to endlessly explore this brutally beautiful world with all its principles, but it is closer to me as a concept, maybe even as a metaphor. Definitely more than the story that takes place in it, no matter how much its characters experience emotions and twists. I want to get under the skin of characters other than Paul, and the most interesting ones unfortunately leave too quickly. 70% for the weakest of Denis Villeneuve's films, but the sequel might still be the event I was expecting the first time around. (12/11/2021)

The audiovisual experience of the year. A regular movie theater is too small. Any imperfection on the screen and the weak sound are painfully obvious. Putting this book onto the movie screen at this moment in time makes perfect sense and creates the necessary counterbalance to most of today’s movie production. Civilization as a relic that needs to be cleansed of the lives of unbelievers in a holy war made to thrill the fighters of ISIS and their supporters. And the indication that men aren’t so absolutely useless as we first thought is also very audacious. Underneath the traditional western-geared topics, we sense Herbert’s fascination with the Middle East. Villeneuve does his very best at depicting the world and its mechanisms. The movie is bristling with ideas, e.g. technical details, Harkonnen songs or the Scottish bagpipes. Comparison to Star Wars is relevant only in terms of scale, and in this respect ⊃∪∩⪽ is much more realistic. The acting is top-notch from all of them. Emotions bubble under the surface and aren’t needlessly displayed. The only trouble is that it’s terribly short, even though what takes place in the first part covers material that fills more than half of the original book. Zimmer is darkly thundering. (20/10/2021)