Dune Part Two (October 20th, 2023)

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I love smart movie goons that recognise when they’re outmatched though.

Rather than the typical:
“Huh, Batman just put 15 of my buddies into temporary comas, let me have a go” :lol
Yeah, I used to think it was unrealistic, but having seen what highly skilled swordsmen and martial artists are capable of against even intermediate opponents (during drills and teaching exercises, not for real) ... yeah, why throw your life away?

The first time I squared off with my fencing instructor I learned how very quickly I would DIE. Much like in the clip above, actually.
 
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Yeah, I used to think it was unrealistic, but having seen what highly skilled swordsman and martial artists are capable of against even intermediate opponents (during drills and teaching exercises, not for real) ... yeah, why throw your life away?

The first time I squared off with my fencing instructor I learned how very quickly I would DIE. Much like in the clip above, actually.
Duncan and Gurney are basically the two Atreides soldiers that none of the Harkonnens wanted to encounter, I’d be outta there too :lol
 
Helps to build anticipation of when we get to see him in a real fight later. These guys run at the sight of him. Nice change too from the mindless bad guys we usually get that for some reason think, nah I can take this guy!
Buddy you ain't the main character.
 
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Haven't seen part 2 yet so can only go by the first film but I'm not sold on Chalamet at all. Mental powers sure, but not in combat or as a leader.








The simple fix would have been to split the role. Young Paul would be Chalamet. Then switch over to Oscar Isaac as older Paul. Find someone else to play Duke Leto. ( Which in the scope of the films, is really slightly more than a cameo appearance)

Isaac is easily the better actor, more skilled, more charisma and has more physical gravity. Would have solved more problems that way.

The hill I'm going to die on is that the films work better if Leto lives and Paul is killed, and not the other way around.
 






The simple fix would have been to split the role. Young Paul would be Chalamet. Then switch over to Oscar Isaac as older Paul. Find someone else to play Duke Leto. ( Which in the scope of the films, is really slightly more than a cameo appearance)

Isaac is easily the better actor, more skilled, more charisma and has more physical gravity. Would have solved more problems that way.

The hill I'm going to die on is that the films work better if Leto lives and Paul is killed, and not the other way around.

That's an interesting idea. Yes, I really liked Oscar Isaac in the role. He would be a very good older Paul.
 
Yes Oscar Isaac would be a great… 17 year old Paul… :lol.

Time leap and age scale everyone up. It would break some aspects of canon but would also open up the casting potential.

I can see why some would disagree and/or oppose it, but my thought process is optimizing the practical logistics. It's just easier to carry Dune with a more experienced older actor, with proven bankability, as a lead.
 
Time leap and age scale everyone up. It would break some aspects of canon but would also open up the casting potential.

I can see why some would disagree and/or oppose it, but my thought process is optimizing the practical logistics. It's just easier to carry Dune with a more experienced older actor, with proven bankability, as a lead.
Chalamet is a very talented actor though, I don’t see the need for this at all. He did a fantastic job.
 
This movie was very well made. Props to Villeneuve!

As with Part 1 there’s so much story from the book to try to pack into a 2:45-ish runtime. A lot of very important story elements just can’t really get fleshed out due to the time constraints. In Part 1 that aspect sort of loomed large in my awareness. But that said, the movie also held my interest. But again, I was very conscious of how fast it moved and how little character and plot development we were able to get simply in order to squeeze so much into 2:48. It’s the case with Part 2 as well, but with Part 2 obviously the action dominates attention so powerfully that one doesn’t really feel it as much.

A comparison can be made here between what Peter Jackson accomplished with LotR in that respect. Jackson’s LotR remains at the peak for that. I mean, think of just how vividly Jackson brings Tolkien’s incredibly vast and detailed Middle Earth universe to life with the choices he makes, i.e., what parts of the story he emphasizes. This Dune franchise isn’t nearly as impressive to me in that way. But it still does a quite respectable job in its own right.

As for performances Anthony Bardem shone most brightly for me. He’s fantastically good.

I have to say that while Zendaya did not give a bad performance, in my own perception I’m still strongly aware that it’s Zendaya playing a role. It is what it is, and for me not a dealbreaker for enjoying the film. But perhaps having used another actress in that role would eliminate such a problem.

Timothy Chalamet is of course a gifted actor. He gives a fine performance in both films. But he simply does not match my mental image in the back of my head of Paul Atreides from the book. It’s hard for me to get past internally. This is most definitely a “me” problem, lol. But unfortunately it creates a kind of psychological barrier to my unconscious buy-in, my willing suspension of disbelief. I just feel like he is miscast.

In most movies I’ve seen by Denis Villenueve there’s a certain emotional coldness and detachment. Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 are examples of this. I was therefore pleased to see some relatable, earthy emotions expressed in this film.

For me this franchise isn’t the second coming. It’s definitely not on the level of Star Wars or LotR. I’m not gushing over it. I’m not even sure yet if it’s something I’ll eventually feel a pull to rewatch. But it’s a very solid and respectable effort to realize a story and mythos that has thus far been surprisingly hard to realize on the silver screen.

Dune 2 didn’t wow me. But it held my interest. And I care about what happens to the characters, and about the story itself.
 
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I actually thought 2049 was more emotionally resonant than Dune. The latter is about a young man born half into royalty, half into a manipulative shadow organization who winds up believing his own publicity. The former is about a man looking to feel some sense of connection or importance in an increasingly impersonal world. Who among us hasn't felt like that at some point?

Sure, there's a similar component of K buying into a fabricated narrative, but he does it because it makes him feel good about himself, not because he has a vision that doing so will set the universe right. And he ultimately chooses his own path, serving a supporting but nevertheless significant role in someone else's story. I think that's a beautiful compromise.
 
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Yes I felt more for K and Joi than I did for any of the human characters in Dune.

That's a big reason that for me at least Dune will never be on the level of Star Wars or LOTR. I watch all these huge and amazing events play out without really caring about any of the characters that much.

I think that's why I found the short final battle so disappointing. If you don't have engaging characters then don't skimp on the action.
 
I never really saw the characters as the focus of Dune tbh. I think they’re cool but I don’t particularly care about them as people. But I am interested in the consequences of their actions and the impact it has on the world/humanity as a whole.
 
I actually thought 2049 was more emotionally resonant than Dune. The latter is about a young man born half into royalty, half into a manipulative shadow organization who winds up believing his own publicity.
I really need to revisit the original books some time because my memory's hazy; but I think Paul got somehow trapped by his own prescience? Some kind of paradox maybe, which is why the eventual God Emperor was so radical in his approach to steer humanity down the only safe path or something. It's been too long...
 
I really need to revisit the original books some time because my memory's hazy; but I think Paul got somehow trapped by his own prescience? Some kind of paradox maybe, which is why the eventual God Emperor was so radical in his approach to steer humanity down the only safe path or something. It's been too long...
Pretty much, as far as I understand it either Paul or Leto II really want to do what they do… but if they don’t then humanity is just going to die out.

The awful things that they do ensure that humanity has a future.

90% of Part Two is literally Paul telling everyone that he does not want to do this, he does not believe in any of it. I dunno how anyone can interpret that as him “believing his own publicity”.
 
Pretty much, as far as I understand it either Paul or Leto II really want to do what they do… but if they don’t then humanity is just going to die out.

The awful things that they do ensure that humanity has a future.

90% of Part Two is literally Paul telling everyone that he does not want to do this, he does not believe in any of it. I dunno how anyone can interpret that as him “believing his own publicity”.
Yeah, I just refreshed my memory. Paul was actually unwilling to take the steps -- perhaps because of losing control of the Fremen holy war which spread and killed 60 billion, but Leto II went ahead and did it because the despotic 'Golden Path' was the only one which prevented the human species from destroying itself.
 
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