Lisam al Gaib! Lisam al Gaib! Lisam al …
Sorry I… I got carried away.
At last, part two of Denis Villeneuve’s blockbuster hit: Dune: Part One, has hit theaters worldwide.
The movie opened with a whopping $82.5m weekend, and after two weeks in theaters, is currently sitting at $374.5m worldwide. And considering its budget was “only” $190m, they’re looking at a net profit of just over $92m (that’s after they make back their budget, and pay out the theaters).
When Dune: Part One came out in 2021, it was met with both love and criticism. “Oh, it was so long” said some, “it was too slooow” said others…
That’s not true… It was the same person. I can’t, I just don’t know what to say. TO THIS DAY I don’t know what to say to them, other than “you’re wrong”. I’m not going to name names here, but just WOW.
Anyways, enough about Alan.
By the way, if you haven’t seen it yet, go and watch it. It’s so good.
ANYWAYS…
My review.
Dune: Part Two was in many ways a showcase of everything good and weird about a Denis Villeneuve film. It captures the common grandeur of one of his films, through vast wide angle shots throughout the film. It also captures the strangeness of his films, honing in on the intricate religious world of Frank Herbert. So, let’s get into it.
*Please note that I have not read the books, so this will be strictly a movie review, based on the merits of the film itself, and not taking into consideration the original IP.*
Writing
Obviously, this is an adaptation from the famous novel of the same name, by Frank Herbert, and like I said above, my frame of reference is non-existent, but nevertheless, it is a very well written film. The story structure is very good. For the most part, the film flows nicely, which makes the film seem shorter than it actually is.
I will say, my one gripe with the film is that there are a few scenes that seem to end abruptly, which threw me off a bit. There were also some time jumps that I wasn’t expecting, and it took me a few moments to realize that we had just jumped forward in time. Otherwise, the dialogue was great. It didn’t feel corny at all, and the character motivations come across believably throughout the film.
Acting
The acting in the film is top notch, from Timothée Chalamet, to Christopher Walken. I thought they all did a fantastic job in selling their character motivations, and the situations their characters faced throughout the film. The one scene I thought was the weakest for acting, would have to be the scene with the - -
Sorry, no spoilers today.
Anyways, there wasn’t any “bad” acting. Just one scene where it wasn’t AS believable as the rest.
Side note: I can’t really see Austin Butler as anything other than Elvis… And I didn’t even see that movie! Homie literally looks like Elvis. I just can’t.
Moving on.
Cinematography
Freaking Greig Fraser, you brilliant man. What a beautifully shot film. Everything just made sense. Everything from the camera angles to the flares he used in the dream sequences. It all came together to form a cohesive and compelling visual story. Everything of his I’ve watched since 2009 has been a work of art. The use of compression was great, the use of wides was great, the action sequences were spot on.
It all felt real. It felt as though we were really there, sharing in the grand adventure, which made some of those war scenes hit harder. I was there, in the moment, and could feel the intensity of the characters as they battled to gain control of Arrakis.
CGI
Wow. The team that worked on this film did such a good job. From the worms to the lasers, everything was tight and polished. The two comparables I can think of, where lower-end budget films (for Hollywood), delivered top notch CGI are The Creator ($80m), and Godzilla Minus One ($14m). It’s nice to see Hollywood realizing you don’t have to throw away boat loads of money, and still maybe end up with half-baked CGI *cough cough* Rings of Power ($1B).
Overall
I really liked it. Because I haven’t read the book, I wasn’t sure where they were going to go with the different plots and sub-plots, which made the watch, even more of an experience. Because they did such a good job in making it feel as real as possible, some of the sequences were hard to watch.
Well that was shorter than I would have liked… Kinda like the film! come on, Denis, give us the Snyder cut!
Until next time.
Pax.
Well I still haven’t seen the second one. But my first thoughts with the first one were, “it’s too long. Too slowwww. And weird!” 🥱🥱…..😉