Dune Reviews

Since it was probably the most ambitious movie released in 2021, of course, I was really eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, maybe I wasn’t in the right mood but I actually really struggled to get into the damned thing after all. It’s not that I don’t have any affinity with the material though. Indeed, I did read the book (which I really loved) and I watched David Lynch’s version (which I didn’t hate) but it was at least 20 years ago which was actually pretty cool since I didn’t remember everything in details. I don’t know, I have always been rooting for Denis Villeneuve but it seems that his SF flicks are getting not only bigger but also more pretentious each time around and I hope he will finally go for some other genre when he is done with ’Dune’. I mean, the whole thing was visually really neat, I wouldn’t expect less from this director, it is still a fascinating world and there were tons of charismatic and interesting characters and, yet, the damned thing never really grabbed me. Eventually, you might wonder if such a straightforward adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic book was the best approach and, maybe, Alejandro Jodorowsky with his completely bonkers project was actually right. Of course, you might argue that I shouldn’t muse over a movie which was never made but it seems that turning this story into another SF blockbuster extravaganza only amplified the weaknesses of this story. For example, Paul Atreides is basically a wimpy emo kid who’s terribly passive and never takes any decision by himself. Another issue was that most of the plot was about the fact that the Harkonnens were summoned to leave Arrakis so they could come back to get rid of the Atreides but wasn’t it actually a really convoluted plan from the emperor to handle his enemies? Anyway, to conclude, maybe it will be more enjoyable when we will be able to see the whole thing when Part 2 will be released so, for the time being, I will give it the benefit of the doubt but, so far, I can’t say I was really impressed though.