Dune, part 1
(Re-watched in advance of Dune, part 2). I said
the first time I watched it, I needed to see the second half to properly assess it, having now seen the second half, I give this one a
10/10. It really is a breathtaking piece of cinema, slow confident and with a sense of grounded realism quite unlike most modern CGI fests.
Dune, part 2
Watched this in the cinema, and it's definitely a film I recommend you do the same with. It continues where the first part left off - quite literally, it finishes the sequence that ended the first. The same incredible visuals, incredible music and sound design, and extraordinary sense of realism are there. Quite how a film with such absurd aspects manages to feel so real is hard to understand, yet people riding worms hundreds of meters long through a desert feel more real than characters in Marvel do walking down the street. The sense of scale is incredible, with things
feeling immense in a way that is often lacking; and the characters and performers are also top notch - although, to me, Christopher Walken felt miscast. He always brings too much Walken-ness to his roles, and unlike the other actors who were subsumed by their roles, he still felt like Walken playing a role.
Storywise, despite the length and setup, it actually felt kind of rushed. Four hours of setup is resolved in a mere thirty minutes or so at the end, much of the politicking of the book is gone; and I do wonder whether someone who was not familiar with either the book or Lynch's take would be able to understand and follow the story. Their take on Feyd-Rautha struck me as overly cartoonish; and lacked either the subtlety or cleverness of the character in the book. Actually, the whole Gedi Prime sequence was the low point of the films for me - it felt too stylised, clashing with the realistic feel of the rest of the film. I think it would also have benefited from some key characters being set up in the first film, and the final fight felt fairly unnecessary to me, partly as a result of their take on Feyd-Rautha lacking the depth necessary to set him up as a prime antagonist.
Still, quibbles aside, it's a masterpiece of modern cinema - I give part two 9/10 and the combination of both movies 10/10. Do watch it.
