IMAX 

“I dreamt about you…”

I’m caught in the middle of the spectrum of hyperbole that’s overtaken this film. I think the criticisms of it being closed off and cold are overstated, especially as people try to ascribe that criticism to Denis’s whole career. There’s so much life in each frame and the character design is so fluent in the lore that there’s so much to love just by looking and listening. That’s Denis’s power. He can communicate emotion without wasting the effort to spell it out. Is it the greatest sci fi film ever made? No. Not even close. Science fiction boasts some of the most thematically rich storytelling we’ve ever seen and holds more sway in modern culture than any other genre. Dune pt. 2 succeeds the most as an action movie, deliberately setting aside the multitude of layers found in characters aside from Paul. I can show you RoboCop on a CRT monitor and still communicate its significance to you. Same for 2001, Ridley’s Bladerunner, Silent Running, and I’m sure plenty others. I think we’re rushing to anoint this part of Dune without the proper time to digest the weight of the story. Eventually the spectacle will wear off we’ll need to reckon with the text and what it shows us. This isn’t an adaptation of a discount paper back out of the clearance section. It’s the foundational arc that some of our greatest cinematic achievements are formed from. We deserved a Dune story that was more than just a pretty backdrop for revenge. There was a chance to make a full tonal commitment to the dour skepticism of Herbert’s work and what we got is a robust action film that’s scared to leave us hanging without a little comedy. Who care’s that this film picks up right after the first one? Stilgar is funny now because people weren’t having as much fun in part one. How long is Paul with the fremen and how is Jessica manipulating the people around him to set his stage? Who cares. She talks to her stomach and now there’s freaky tats on her face. I’ve devolved into petty complaints so feel free to stop reading but I’m so annoyed that her entire arc is basically resolved in short order. You have REBECCA FERGUSON playing Lady Jessica and she’s barely memorable in this part. I get changing things for adaptations yada yada but shoving her to the side is a betrayal of what was good about Part 1, at least in my moronic opinion. I know she’s here and she does stuff but I perked up every time she was on screen and become more bored every second she wasn’t. I’m going to re read the book to make sure my complaints have merit and I’m not making all this shit up.