Category: DUNE

"I was expecting to be blown away…but I wasn't."

Dune Part Two was my most—and quite frankly my only—eagerly awaited movie of 2024. I wanted to love it unconditionally. I really did. But I didn't.

I had such high hopes, especially with how Denis Villeneuve so lovingly crafted Part One. But I started getting a pit in my stomach a few weeks ago when it leaked that an adult actress, Anya Taylor-Joy, would be playing Paul's sister, Alia. How? Why? (Those of you familiar with the book know how problematic having an adult in this role is.)

In the book, Alia is a child—three years old as I recall—when the final battle sequence takes place. Her high strangeness, being a fully-developed adult consciousness with memories of generations before her within a child's body, is integral to the story and was the reason she was such a compelling character (fully fleshed out in later novels). Was she going to be age-regressed and CGI'd onto a younger actor? Would her voice be dubbed onto an as-yet-unrevealed child actress? So many questions.

Well, I got the answer last night.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Villeneuve simply sidestepped the whole issue by simply not having her born in this film. I know this is set up for the next installment in the series, where Alia is significantly older, but how is that going to be handled? Jessica had the baby and she grew up off screen?

And you know, the more I think about it this morning, the more this pisses me off.

(Deep breaths. Deep breaths.)

The film was visually stunning, as I expected. The soundtrack lush, and the other minor changes (with one exception that I'll get into shortly) didn't annoy me. Villeneuve flushed out the story a bit in a way I could've seen Frank Herbert doing himself. Austin Butler's portrayal of Feyd-Rautha was truly psychotic—much more so than I imagined when I read the novel, and a far, far cry from Sting's blue metallic speedo portrayal in Lynch's 1984 adaptation.

There were some editing issues that stood out for me. Before Paul's coming-of-age riding of the Sandworm, he was sent out into the deep desert by Stilgar to survive overnight and return the next morning. We see him walking off, and then all of a sudden Chani shows up and she's explaining how windtraps work to collect moisture and he's making googly eyes at her—and then it's the next day and they're all back with the group.

Further, Paul's firstborn—who died in the violence of the last third of the book—was completely absent in this adaptation. Not a word of it was mentioned, even though Chani was clearly wearing the blue nezhoni scarf, indicating she gave birth to a male child. And yet, not a word. Nothing. Zilch.

And that brings me to the ending…

Paul kills the Baron because Alia isn't born yet and…because poetic justice for the Baron killing Paul's father? Okay, in context it did make sense.

I understand that we're being set up for a third film based on Dune Messiah, but to have Paul announce that he would be marrying the Emperor's daughter Irulan for purely political reasons without simultaneously reassuring Chani that nothing had changed between the two of them? I mean, that was one scene that has stayed with me since I first read the novel in 1977:

"I swear to you now," he whispered, "that you'll need no title. That woman over there will be my wife and you but a concubine because this is a political thing and we must weld peace out of this moment, enlist the Great Houses of the Landsraad. We must obey the forms. Yet that princess shall have no more of me than my name. No child of mine nor touch nor softness of glance, nor instant of desire."

"So you say now," Chani said. She glanced across the room at the tall princess.

"Do you know so little of my son?" Jessica whispered. "See that princess standing there, so haughty and confident. They say she has pretensions of a literary nature. Let us hope she finds solace in such things; she'll have little else." A bitter laugh escaped Jessica. "Think on it, Chani: that princess will have the name, yet she'll live as less than a concubine—never to know a moment of tenderness from the man to whom she's bound. While we, Chani, we who carry the name of concubine—history will call us wives."

As this final scene in the film was playing out I kept whispering to myself, "Say it. Say it!"

But no. That whole interchange never happened. Chani stormed off in a huff, summoned a worm, and rode off into the sunset.

Will I see it film again? Probably not. I had tentative plans to see it in IMAX with a couple friends in the coming week, but I begged off and told them (both huge fans of the book) why. Am I disapointed in it overall? Not overall, but with specific parts, yes. Very much so. Is this the closest adaptation to the book I'm likely to see in my lifetime? Definitely.

Do I recommend it? If you've never read the source material, and only saw Part One, definitely. You'll enjoy it for the story that it is. If you know and love the book (and you've read my spoilers) go in with your eyes open and make up your own minds. And let me know what you think!

At least he didn't make it rain…

 

In anticipation of Friday night's cinematic premiere of Dune Part 2, I rewatched Dune Part 1 on Netflix last night. I wasn't planning to, although several times over the past couple weeks I thought I really should  watch it again before Friday. I have it on disc, but the player isn't even connected to anything any more, and it's more of a hassle than it's worth to get everything set up for only one movie. So when I was scrolling through Netflix and saw it come up (with the note "Leaving Soon" underneath the icon) I thought it was the perfect opportunity to return to Arrakis for a couple hours.

I haven't seen the film since its debut back in 2021 except for maybe one screening shortly thereafter when I got the blueray release.

All I can say is, "Wow!" Better than I remember (and at the time I thought it was awesome), and with this go-round I found myself catching a lot of small details that screamed references to the book that had slipped past me upon my initial viewings.

I was already excited for Part 2, but even moreso now after being reminded last night of how much Villeneuve genuinely loves and reveres the original source material.

And now he's actively planning for a third move that follows the events of Dune  Messiah? Yes, please!

I first read DUNE when I was 19 years old, during what I affectionately refer to as the summer of STAR WARS. I remember stumbling over the vocabulary, Bene Gesserit, Mentat, Gom Jabbar…referring to the glossary at the end of the book more times than I care to admit. But it soon became my favorite book of all time, and I voraciously consumed the original remaining five books penned by Herbert. (I only picked up his son's work—all of which were imminently forgettable—during the many long, sleepness nights I experienced during my cancer treatments.)

After the much-anticipated  David Lynch version came out in 1984 (long before Heretics or Chapterhouse were published), I gave up all hope of the original novel ever receiving a big screen treatment in a manner worthy of the source material. I—along with so many others—feared it unfilmable.

That was, until Denis Villeneuve's version burst upon the scene two years ago. I had (and still have) some small quibbles with it, but by far this remains the most faithful scren adaptation we are likely to see in our lifetimes.

That being said, the trailer for Part 2 just dropped, and OH. MY. GOD. I knew Denis was promising so much more for this one, but these few scenes actually gave me chills.

November is just around the corner, and it may be the first time since Part 1 that I actually venture into a theater again.

If the film itself is half as good as what this trailer hints at, Villeneuve owes it to his fans to proceed onto Dune Messiah…although I am willing to wait until after he completes Rendezvous With Rama (another of my favorite books).

We now know who will be playing The Emperor…

…and Princess Irulan and Feyd-Rautha.

October 2023

…that forever enamored me to DUNE from the very first time I read it.

If there is a more perfect visual representation of Frank Herbert's words, I don't know what it could possibly be. Absolutely perfect.

Let's get to the "stuff" first.

DUNE has been my favorite book for my entire adult life. As I'm sure I've mentioned here before, every few years I used to go through it—and in fact the entire series of Herbert's original six books—just to remind me why I love it so.

(Unfortunately I now have the attention span of a gnat and sitting down to read anything more than a dozen paragraphs causes me to fidget, so I'm long overdue for a re-read of the series.)

Reading aside, the more I learned of Villeneuve's vision for the film, the more excited I became.

I was seriously hoping that this would be the spark that ignited the same sort of passion for the story in Ben that I had been carrying with me all these many years.

Unfortunately, I fear just the opposite has happened. And after last night I think DUNE is going to be one of those subjects that just isn't discussed in this house.

Ben had no interest in seeing the film, yet he agreed to go with me on a date night nonetheless because I wanted him to see it with me. I verified that the time and place would work for him (keeping in mind his commute home from Casa Grande) and he said it was fine. This week he told me he had an IEP scheduled for 4:00 that afternoon but was fairly certain he could still make it back to Phoenix in time to make our 6:15 showtime.

And then life intervened.

Yesterday was a day from hell for my husband. Around 2:30 pm a kid threatened to self-harm, and during the interview it escalated, with him threatening to hurt his dad—and Ben. Crisis was called, and after waiting 20 minutes on hold, the team was dispatched. But because there's apparently one crisis intervention crew for the entire county, Ben had no idea when they would show up.

I'll spare you the details, but we didn't make the 6:15 show. We ended up at the 9:45 pm show, didn't get back home until after 1 am, and Ben had to get up five hours later to make it to a training class this morning that is located in Fountain Hills, affectionately referred to as halfway to New Mexico. We did have a nice, leisurely dinner before the movie, something we wouldn't have gotten otherwise because I misread the website and thought the multiplex was "Dine-In IMAX," when in reality it was "Dine-In and IMAX."

Speaking of the multiplex, once upon a time the theaters at Desert Ridge were nice, but it was obvious they are long overdue for an upgrade. The "IMAX" theater wasn't a true IMAX, but rather IMAX-Lite. It may have had the requisite sound system, but the screen was only marginally bigger than what you'd get in a regular theater, not the two story monster I remember from visits to IMAX theaters in San Francisco. The seats were incredibly uncomfortable. Ben was freezing. We were only two of a couple dozen patrons wearing masks. First time back in a theater in nearly two years and this was not a good first impression.

Add to that, technical difficulties prevented the movie starting at the scheduled time, so the trailers didn't even start rolling until after 10 pm. And all I have to say about those coming attractions is, "Can Hollywood come up with nothing original?"

The movie finally started and by the time it finished, I answered that question with, yes…apparently they can if they want to.

What can I say? DUNE was everything I'd hoped for. While maybe not one-hundred percent chapter and verse faithful to the source material, it is my opinion that Villeneuve hit all the right notes and has given us as faithful a telling of the story as we're likely to ever see.

The cinematography was gorgeous. The performances brought these characters to life. The set pieces—especially the personal shields and OMG the ornithopters—despite having already seen both in the trailers, blew me away. As other reviewers have commented, Villeneuve has hit it out of the park and is without a doubt his finest work to date. Denis has filmed the unfilmable and has made it generally—Ben did have questions—accessible to people who have not read the source material or have seen other adaptations.

My only complaint—and this can be laid squarely on my own shoulders—is that because so much had been revealed in the teasers and trailers that I eagerly devoured over the past year, there wasn't a lot that I hadn't already seen in one form or another. (The Hunter-Seeker was an exception, and I loved its depiction.)

The film ended at a good point in the story, but OMG I want more. Ben liked it, but it failed to ignite the spark I was hoping for.

It's going to be a long two years (or however long it turns out to be) before we see Part 2.

…from the DUNE premiere in the United States, but the first two of three soundtrack albums have been released. I have to say, they're giving me chills and making me cry tears of joy at the same time, especially this cut:

I have such great hope for this film.

Word has it that if it's as huge a success as everyone is anticipating, Villeneuve wants to not just make the second film, but make a trilogy, encompassing Dune and Dune Messiah; basically the life story of Paul Muad'dib.

I approve of this message.

I would love to see Children of Dune as well as God Emperor of Dune on the big screen as well, but I fear I won't live long enough to realize this, even if Denis decides to take up the whole series.

 

This is ticking all the boxes. At last…a director who gets it and has actually read the book.

I joked last week that when this trailer came out the Dune YouTubers I follow all left wet spots on their seats, but I was right there with them.

A few images leaked from a teaser trailer for a certain upcoming movie I am very excited to see (and hope that it will be safe enough to return to a theater in time for its debut). Withholding judgment until I see more, because I never found fault with the visual aesthetic of the previous attempt to bring this saga to the big screen, but I do find these images intriguing.

"Put your right hand in the box," she said.

"What's in the box?"

"Pain."

"I hold at your neck the gom jabbar," she said. "The gom jabbar, the high-handed enemy. It's a needle with a drop of poison on its tip. Ah-ah! Don't pull away or you'll feel that poison."

The itch became the faintest burning. "Why are you doing this?" he demanded.

"To determine if you're human. Be silent."