First off, I am not by and large a sci-fi fan and I have never read the Frank Herbert book. However, I really enjoyed "Arrival" and I didn't HATE "Blade Runner 2049" although I did consider it somewhat pointless.
So having said all that, I liked this well enough. I appreciated the technical achievements, the cinematography and the special effects, and I was generally able to follow the plot.
So, here are some - I don't want to call them "gripes," let's call 'em observations: I find a lot of sci-fi silly when it comes up with all these silly names (and I have a hard time picturing the actors not cracking up saying some of them).
I don't think Timothee Chalamet had the "gravitas" for this oh-so-heavy bit of business (but maybe having this scrawny kid as the star is kinda the point). Same thing with Zendaya, to me she's just some kid.
Funny thing is, my all-time favorite movie is Stanley Kubrick's "2001." It doesn't have the problems that movies like "Dune" have, and it doesn't have some "story" as much as a grandeur myth about the universe. It suggests much more than shows (or spells anything out with boring obvious exposition); plus in "2001" you have a great, great filmmaker at the absolute height of his powers.
So, I guess this was an acceptable translation of "Dune" to the silver screen.
So having said all that, I liked this well enough. I appreciated the technical achievements, the cinematography and the special effects, and I was generally able to follow the plot.
So, here are some - I don't want to call them "gripes," let's call 'em observations: I find a lot of sci-fi silly when it comes up with all these silly names (and I have a hard time picturing the actors not cracking up saying some of them).
I don't think Timothee Chalamet had the "gravitas" for this oh-so-heavy bit of business (but maybe having this scrawny kid as the star is kinda the point). Same thing with Zendaya, to me she's just some kid.
Funny thing is, my all-time favorite movie is Stanley Kubrick's "2001." It doesn't have the problems that movies like "Dune" have, and it doesn't have some "story" as much as a grandeur myth about the universe. It suggests much more than shows (or spells anything out with boring obvious exposition); plus in "2001" you have a great, great filmmaker at the absolute height of his powers.
So, I guess this was an acceptable translation of "Dune" to the silver screen.