“Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people. ”
It was a very long waited since the initial announcement, the analysis of every bit of information, the first promo pictures and finally the first full trailer and it was completely worth it!
I have now seen a movie where so many elements come together to set the mood of a particular scene, showing us a scope both large and small, intimate and epic and i dare say it may have been the best movie i saw this year, even if i comment through the mindset of a fanboy who tries hard to remain objective.
Most of us reading here know the story inside out and it is spoiler marked but i'll still keep some small moments and elements for myself for now - things i went "Wow.. that was cool", things that Villeneuve put in as a little artistic or cool fleurish, experience them for yourself first chance you can get.
To get out the "negative" parts out first:
In the first half the movie builds a fantastic world where music booms loudly in the foreground yet doesn't overpower the scene, in fact it enhances it and at several points i was shaking my head with a broad smile at the emotions and awe this produced, however once the Harkonnen/Sardaukar attack starts it becomes rather hectic and jumps from scene to scene, losing some of that epicness and mood setting with which the movie starts.
Stellan Skaarsgard ( spelling?) as Baron Harkonnen and the Harkonnen in general fell flat for me, the movie never really shows us why the Harkonnen are so bad except by Atreides telling us and Rabban beheading some prisoners. Skaarsgard's Baron Harkonnen is just him in a fatsuit, floating around in some scenes and narrowly escaping the assassination attempt. We never see him as the political mind, the depraved and sadistic ruler, he's just.. there.
That being said on to the good parts.
As i said above in the first half of the movie Villeneuve, Zimmer, the actors, the cinematographer and everybody else craft something truly wonderful and awe inspiring. As everybody knows the movie opens up with a short monologue by Chani before we switch to Caladan and get to know the Atreides. It is here that the movie really shines as the music collaborates perfectly with each scene, enhancing it as a soundtrack should do. I can't put it correctly into words, this is something you have to experience and i urge everybody to see it at least once in the theater with a proper soundsystem ( my theater had top of the line equipment and the controller must have cranked up all settings to max and called it a day - i didn't need any special vibrating seats, the power of sound made the ground tremble at certain parts
), you can always watch it a second or xth time on HBO to catch all the details but the first time should be special.
The movie itself follows the book quite closely, some minor scenes have been cut if i remember correctly but it's no big deal or even ruining the movie ( especially the Liet Kynes non controversy, the actress was very good and did her job quite well).
Chalamet delivers a very good performance as the main character but he's of course held back by the character at this point in the story, doubting himself and slowly discovering there is much more for him to come than he ever thought. The scene where he has a prescient vision of the coming Jihad and his desperation that a holy war has started under the banner of the Atreides kills him inside and Chalamet knocks this important scene out of the park.
Elements i really liked
- characters often switch into other languages ( subtitled) and those feel like living languages, it sounds brilliant
- the Sardaukar get a short introduction scene and boy do the come off scary as hell, especially their language is terrifying to hear
- the friendship between Duncan and Paul is just so fantastic, we have this huge Swordmaster who simply loves his protegé and you instantly know he'd die for him
- Duncan's final scene.. too soon ( but awesome to see)
- the set and visual design is pure brilliance, building real sets as often as possible really paid off
- the desert with all the dunes ( pun not intended) is simply breathtaking
- Sandworms are scary as fuck!
Watch this movie as soon as possible, grab everybody to go with you, this movie definitely needs a proper part 2 to at least finish off the main story!
