Dune - Movie Review

Starring Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Chang Chen, and David Dastmalchian.

Written by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve & Eric Roth.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve.

★★★½ 

What most people know now is that this is Dune: Part One. This covers about half of Frank Herbert's classic 1965 sci-fi novel, and thanks to its successful opening weekend, we know we'll get Part Two in 2023. I am relieved. This did feel like the first 2 1/2 hours of a 5-hour story.

One of the most impressive aspects of Denis Villenueve's vision is his scope. See this on the big screen. I saw it in IMAX and he uses every inch of the frame. The spaceships, the sandworms, the armies, everything in this film conveys how HUGE these things are. It seeks to put "epic" back in "space epic"  and succeeds.

Approximately 8000 years in the future, the galaxy is ruled by an emperor (keep in mind this was written before Star Wars) who rewards contracts to ruling Houses from various planets. The planet Arrakis has a substance known as melange, or "spice", that is a vital ingredient in ftl space navigation. The Emperor Shaddam IV (unseen in this film) has decided to switch the Arrakis mining contract from House Harkonnen to House Atriedes. Naturally Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) isn't going to take this sudden loss of income to Duke Leto Atriedes (Oscar Isaac) lying down. No House wants to openly defy the emperor, but we learn early that the Harkonnens can be ruthless.

The story centers on the Duke's son Paul Atriedes (Timothee Chalamet), who's learning the political machinations he must know as the heir, but also the religious/mystical ways of his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), who hopes her son will fulfill a prophecy known to her order for centuries. Chalamet has a nice balance here, as a privileged son trying to keep himself grounded (with help from his warrior-mentors played by Josh Brolin and Jason Momoa) while also apprehensive of his dual destinies, as a Duke, and as a possibly supernatural leader. 

I read Frank Herbert's Dune (and National Lampoon's Doon) shortly after David Lynch's Dune came out, so I remember a lot of the basics of the story. (I also tried rewatching Lynch's version last year and made it about 30 minutes in before I stopped. It's bad.) I did have fun mentally comparing casts in my mind. Kyle MacLachlan is now Chalamet, Sean Young is now Zendaya, Patrick Stewart is now Josh Brolin, etc.

Villenueve's movie wants to show not tell, and this movie strikes me as one that will reward with repeat viewings. There is a complicated mythos behind the story; this is obviously a world and society well thought-out. I'm glad the director took his time and had faith enough in his vision that he didn't rush through plot points to get it all in one movie. Not to mention years pass by between where this movie ends and the second half of the novel. And hey, Herbert wrote six Dune novels so this could go as long as producers are willing to finance it. Maybe the next great sci-fi franchise has arrived.

Zack Snyder's Justice League - Movie Review

Starring Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Amy Adams, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Connie Nielsen, Jeremy Irons, Willem Dafoe, JK Simmons, Diane Lane, Joe Morton, Ciaran Hinds, Kiersey Clemons, Ryan Zheng, Amber Heard, Jesse Eisenberg, Jared Leto, and Billy Crudup.

Written by Chris Terrio.

Directed by Zack Snyder.

★★★

If it helps, don't think of it as a 4-hour movie. Think of it as a 4-episode limited series.

I thought Man of Steel was a thumbs-sideways and that Batman v. Superman was a let-down, though they both had their qualities. Justice League was a mess and about on par with BvS for me. I thought at the time that Joss Whedon did what he could with the troubled production, but stories have spread since what Whedon's really like to work with, and I felt bad about the personal family tragedy that led Snyder to walk away.

Now he's been granted the ability to tell the story the way he wanted to. Rather than making Justice League I & II, we get a full 4-hour experience. It's not perfect and it still pales in comparison to a similarly-plotted Avengers Infinity War & Endgame, but it's a vast improvement, and I really liked how the movie was able to take its time with these characters. I'd also be curious to go back and watch the 2017 movie again to see how different it was.

Ben Affleck is great as Bruce Wayne, and I was grateful to watch him stretch his legs in the role one last time. He's picking up the pieces after the death of Superman, and he knows he needs more people with special abilities to unite in order to fight what's coming. He has Wonder Woman on his side but he needs more. He tries to recruit Aquaman, Cyborg, Flash, some more successfully than others.

Of all the characters, it's clearest Whedon gave Cyborg the shortest end of the stick. We get full backstory here and a better idea of who the character is, what he can do, etc. Steppenwolf is also a more fully-realized villain here. His design's more impressive, his fighting ability makes more sense, and he has motive beyond Shiny Alien Wants to Conquer Earth. He has wronged his master Darkseid in the past and figures he can get back in his good graces by enslaving Earth for him. We only caught a glimpse of Darkseid in the original but he sure shows up here.

Other actors like Willem Dafoe and Kiersey Clemons, who'd been cut from the original, are able to deliver and expand their parts here, and even ones who weren't in it (like Jared Leto's Joker) pop by.

There are still some Snyderisms I'm not keen on. The sky is always this burnt sienna sheen from the sun in a perpetual state of setting behind some clouds. The slo-mo speed-up slo-mo approach to action scenes can make them seem repetitive. But I for one am happy that after everything he and his family's been through, Zack Snyder was able to return to his baby and fulfill his vision.