Dune: Part Two

“he is the Lisan al-Gaib!” fuck yeah the baliset controversial opinion: part one is better idk if i was just wearing my “book fan” hat or my “critic” hat or i was just in a bad mood, or if the theater i saw it in was shitty, or what, but this didn’t hit the way part one did. i’ll see it in imax tomorrow though so maybe that will change. maybe i got too hyped up? ultimately a lot of my problems come from the edit. i think they flew through this so none of the big spectacle moments felt like they could breathe. i didn’t love Christopher Walken as the Emperor. they could have literally cast like anyone else lol i don’t think they nailed how monumental Paul taking the Water of Life should be. like he basically genuinely becomes a god in that moment. he can see the future and the past simultaneously and plan every future. also didn’t love Chani’s sleeping beauty moment. things that bothered me as a book fan: - having Feyd pass the Gom Jabbar makes no sense. i get they like essentially combined him and Count Fenring, but thematically Feyd IS the animalistic side of man. - i expected no Alia (though that’s so disappointing tbh she’s my favorite character), and i actually didn’t mind how they did her, but i think having Paul kill the Baron so nonchalantly in front of the Emperor and everyone takes away a lot of the momentum for the Feyd fight. i think i would have been fine if Alia killed the Baron via Jessica. it kinda ruins Alia’s whole character in Children if she doesn’t kill the Baron too. you also could get that sort of “hostage” moment the book does with alia to add some tension to the final battle AND give Jessica something to do. plus you’ve already set her up as the messenger of Muad’Dib so i would have liked that - threatening to use the house atomics to blow up the spice fields instead of using the fremen’s water to drown the worms, again, ruins the ecological themes of the book and also the whole premise. the worms were always supposed to be a problem and it was supposed to be a secret (that they haven’t really explained yet) that the worms make the spice. so it makes no sense that they wouldn’t have tried the atomics before. the book is all about the careful ordered balance of man’s power against the brutal, chaotic, unexpected forces of nature. also 92 nukes isn’t that much— the US has 5200+. i don’t think the book ever gave a number - the way they told this story would have been SO much better if they included the guild more. the guild isn’t mentioned once— and they’re the WHOLE reason spice is so important. paul is only able to “win” because he leverages the interests of capital against the feudal faufreluches. - stilgar kind of becoming comedic relief was disappointing, especially after his characterization in part one - where was thufir :( changes i liked: - making the jihad/holy war/genocide a mass starvation actually makes sense (or it would, if they explained paul controlling the guild through spice) - everything with Chani is great. they made her a real character instead of a symbolic victim of Paul. and that ending shot is perfect. - making Jessica an active agent in spreading the Missionaria Protectiva is really smart. makes her so insidious. especially as she’s sort of being manipulated by Alia the Abomination - Paul’s reluctance being shown so explicitly works well - cutting Leto 1.5 makes sense - cutting count fenring makes sense. he’s kind of a non-character in the book - the short time frame is fine obviously, i loved it. these critiques come from a place of love. overall, the craft is immaculate, it just felt SO rushed to me. and i suspect they had a longer better cut that they had to trim all the fat out of. but i like the fat! i think you can feel it in Hans Zimmer’s score too— themes and moments don’t quite line up as satisfyingly as in Part One.