Dune

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⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

Lots of love for this movie here, so now it's time for a REAL critic to come on and give you all a reality check, someone who wasn't brainwashed into thinking the smelly old book was actually good.

Okay yeah the movie was actually really good. But I do attribute it a lot more to Villeneuve's vision rather than Herbert's. As far as the audio/visual experience goes, this is exactly the kind of movie I love. Loud noises, massive ships, eerie yet epic music. This movie has it all! Definitely one of my favorite moments of just sitting back and taking it all in from the big screen for two hours.

I also think this movie did a lot to not necessarily simplify the narrative, but to at least focus on the things the audience cares about. By the end of the opening scene, you get it. In the same way, the world is much more realized here and takes on a really unique, darker, almost dystopian sci-fi identity. Where I felt the book just described, you know, a desert (things we have right here in our boring universe), this movie just felt like more in a way I can't totally describe. It was probably just the accompanying music.

My main complaint with the books, however, is that there are no interesting characters to care about. This movie doesn't fix that. There are glimpses of personality with Jason Mamoa and... wait no that was it. Everyone here is super boring. Being hot is not a personality. And I'm sorry guys but I just cannot get myself to cheer for Timothee Chalamet and I promise you I tried. Why do people like this weasel looking frat boy? He's got the most punchable face in Hollywood next to Jack Gleeson.

Which brings me to my next major criticism. The plot! What am I even cheering for? What do I want Paul to do? It's so weird that the end of a movie is where you find out what the main character wants. I guess one thing you can do is just make the bad guys so cartoonishly evil that you just know you want them to die at some point..?

Anyways I'm spiraling. Two more paragraphs and this movie is going down to a 6. Altogether I really loved this movie even though the theatre was packed and I was made to sit by Vlad Harkonnen himself. The second half of the book really sucks, so I'm not sure how they will handle that, yet somehow I have faith in Denis and an really pumped for that when it comes out in 10,191. All hail Denis!

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