Dune

I think the problem everyone seemed to have with this film is that the plot was lacking. It's an epic story, but as this only covers the first half of the first book, it lacks that finish. It doesn't ever come together. It's a set up for the saga, and although that's important and it's well done, it doesn't give the public the best first impression to the story. There's a lot of unnecessary time spent on things that weren't supposed to be major plot points, but at the same time, I respect and understand the decisions that were made. I think it will all come together later, but it would've been nice to have some sense of completeness in the 2.5 hours this film took. It makes sense to have the turning point of this film be the betrayal, although if they stuck with the 1:1 book movie ratio, it would have also worked for the turning point to have been the symbolic death of paul's innocence (the whole "When you take a life, you take your own" bit), the moving on to his becoming the chosen one, and his meeting chani (zendaya's character), as this film ended. I can't say which version I would have liked better. That being said, the soundtrack and cinematography and costumes are very well done. They bring the world to life. The acting (particularly Timothee's performance) has to be my favorite aspect of this film: the characters are so so real, which comes at a bit of a rarity with films lately. I've got to say, the duke's death is probably my favorite part of this film. It is so wonderfully done. oscar isaac's performance is lovely. It is heart breaking every time. Also loved the line "My road leads into the desert. If you'll have us, we will come." It was a good way to tie up the film, though still not my favorite ending ever. This did kind of just feel like a 2.5 hour commercial for the rest of the series, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to see what they make of this world.