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Dune: Part Two (2024)
Hot & Cold
While Part 1 to Denis Villeneuve's DUNE was undoubtably a cinematic feat and a technical wonder to behold, I admit I had a hard time latching onto much emotionally, which ultimately left me feeling cold and indifferent to future offerings.
This time around, I'm pleased to report that there is lot more to chew on; both emotionally and narratively. With the world building from Part 1 established and the players set, Part 2 helps the series find its legs and transcend mere visual splendor, successfully paving multiple paths forward towards emotional and spiritual resonance.
The main facilitator of this is the romance between Paul and Chani, which not only gives humanity to the beautiful, yet often dense world of Frank Herbert's novel but also serves to illustrate the central conflict at the heart of this grand, science fiction narrative. Heroes, messiahs, prophesies, and ultimately-their consequences, are explored here with awe-inspiring wonder and, more often, terror. While the visual effects, score, and overall production help facilitate much of this, the true MVP is Zendaya and the effortless depth present in the longing or wrath found in her gaze. She broke my heart. Truly.
Despite the improvements and merit present in what feels like a Hollywood epic of the past, I regrettably still found Part 2 to be a bit too opaque at times. This will obviously vary between viewers but there's still something unapproachable throughout the whole thing for me that I can't quite place my finger on. Regardless, I left the film satisfied (mostly) and am MUCH more interested to see where things go from here than I was last time.
Lead me to paradise, Denis. I'm ready.
RANDOM PRAISE +
-What was up with those creepy, jester banderilleros things? So cool! And where's the gimp spider from the first one? Bring that guy/girl/thing back! Yeah...I like the weird stuff.
RANDOM CRITIQUE -
-There's a character who gets captured that I...didn't know was in danger? Very odd and jarring moment. Feels like a deleted scene sort of situation but knowing Denis we'll probably never see it. Bummer!
TAKEAWAY ?
-Javier Bardem makes for a wonderful hype man. Poor Paul.
The Creator (2023)
Gorgeous & Empty
Can't say too much more about this one than the many others who have already said it better. The film has incredible visuals and a wonderful aesthetic but the storytelling is weak and the world-building is uninspired; praise and critique mirrored in the film's main AI / robot subjects themselves, which look incredible yet whose abilities, worldviews, and "biology" are disappointedly shallow. Still, the visual spectacle is impressive and other studios should take note at what Gareth Edwards was able to accomplish with his meager (for Hollywood) $80 million dollar budget.
RANDOM PRAISE +
-The film features a character who was WAY too eager and willing to carve off someone's face after being met with a locked security door. "Woah, woah-we can press his face against the scanner, Dan! Put the knife away!"
RANDOM CRITIQUE -
-Grenades with questionable detonation delays. Convenient for the protagonist? Yes. Distracting as a viewer? Also yes. Bad news for the antagonists? 100%.
TAKEAWAY ?
-If you're in a movie and you're part of the U. S. Military, just know it's highly likely that one of your soldiers WILL fall in love with and or join the enemy.
Doctor Jekyll (2023)
Fun & Messy
Thanks to director Joe Stephenson and Hammer Studios, we have DOCTOR JEKYLL, a modern "re-imagining" of the famous 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. There have been a number of these over the years, but Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide are such classic characters from the horror and weird fiction canon that my genre-loving ass was more than happy to experience another outing.
The consensus? Mixed. I found plenty to love here but your enjoyment will ultimately come from your disposition and patience towards the horror genre itself and, specifically, the low-budget-veering on camp-gothic horror that Hammer is best known for.
Positives? The leads. They shine individually, but it's really their scenes together that are the true stars. Eddie Izzard was an absolute delight on screen and I'd love to see her in more stuff. Scott Chambers was quite good too, the charm and innocence of Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates (early Psycho) highly present throughout this particular performance; whether this was intentional or not I do not know but I very much enjoyed it.
Negatives? This has a very low-budget feel and a MESSY plot. Nothing felt very thoroughly thought out and I believe a few head-scratches and eye-rolls could have been avoided with just a few more passes on the script.
RANDOM PRAISE +
-In this universe, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide can't have cereal and I find that very, very funny.
RANDOM CRITIQUE -
- A character chooses to dismiss the danger and implications of a bloody phone. What a silly goose.
TAKEAWAY ?
-Green cigarettes (just cigarettes in general tbh) should be avoided.