Unless this is successful in the box office, we won't get a part two from this director. Please, even if you don't go into the theater, buy a ticket.
To say this was an emotionally rewarding experience, I have to also state when I was a teenager I read the trilogy four times, and the following Herbert Sr. books twice each...forty years ago. I've been waiting a long time. Yes, this was an emotionally satisfying experience. That's on me. I know the story, and....
SPOILER ALERT
...That was before I understood the, "white savior," trope. I mean, I understood Frank Herbert said he wanted to explore what it would take to set-up a messiah...make People believe in one and follow one. But, I did not understand it is a warning. I did not understand that what happens to the Fremen is not a good thing -- what happens to EVERYONE as a result of Leto the Second following, "The Golden Path," is not a good thing. It's the ultimate warning... "Beware of someone coming in from outside promising to fix everything, and lead you to paradise," because you'll prolly just get bent over. And, even if it saves you from The Great Pause, you'll be bored for a very long time.
As a teen, and, even now, I'm enchanted by the secret powers of the Bene Geserit, the Bashar Teg, the Axolotle Tanks (female Tleilaxu) and the final Ghola of Idaho.
I'm a video addicted ADHD mo'fo, and I want very much for there to be a part two AND a part six...!!! I'm gonna buy a ticket. I hope you'll join me.
Denis Villeneuve is the man!
There’s only one word that came into my mind after watching it: finally.
Finally, a blockbuster that isn’t afraid to be primarily driven by drama and tension, and doesn’t undercut its own tone by throwing in a joke every 30 seconds.
Finally, a blockbuster that puts actual effort in its cinematography, and doesn’t have a bland or calculated colour palette.
Finally, a blockbuster with a story that has actual substance and themes, and doesn’t rely on intertextual references or nostalgia to create a fake sheen of depth.
Finally, a blockbuster that doesn’t pander to China by having big, loud and overblown action sequences, but relies on practical and grounded spectacle instead (it has big sand worms, you really don’t need to throw anything at the screen besides that).
Finally, a blockbuster that actually feels big, because it isn’t primarily shot in close ups, or on a sound stage.
And of course: finally, a blockbuster that isn’t a fucking prequel, sequel, or connected to an already established IP somehow.
(Yeah, I know Tenet did those things as well, but I couldn’t get into that because the characters were so flat and uninteresting).
This just checks all the boxes. An engaging story with subtext, very well set up characters, great acting (like James Gunn, Villeneuve's great at accentuating the strengths of limited actors like Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa), spectecular visuals and art design (desaturated but not in an ugly washed out way), pacing (slow but it never drags), directing, one of Hans Zimmer’s best scores: it’s all here.
I only have one real criticism: there’s too much exposition, especially in the first half.
It can occasionally hold your hand by referencing things that have already been established previously, and some scenes of characters explaining stuff to each other could’ve been conveyed more visually.
Other than that, it’s easily one of the best films of the year.
I’ve seen some people critiquing it for being incomplete, which is true, but this isn’t just a set up for a future film.
It feels like a whole meal, there are pay offs in this, and the characters progress (even if, yes, their arcs are still incomplete).
8.5/10
