Spice Spectacle
PRAISE: Director Denis Villeneuve returns to the universe originally created by writer Frank Herbert for a deeper dive into its characters and back to the tug of war for control of the planet and its most valuable resource, called spice.
The various actors do a fine job of bringing their characters to life as the sands shift so do the characters mindsets go from joy to vengeful anger. Austin Butler is a standout as the sadistic psychopath Feyd-Rautha. Director Denis Villeneuve is an ally and dedicated to the source material he connects this story of faith, doubt, denying and accepting destiny to incredible visuals from the vastness of a dessert, to silent flights and rumbling explosions. The romance between Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and Chani (Zendaya)is believable especially when the film is about to reach a turning point. As
Fremen leader, Stilgar Javier Bardem is very believable as a keeper of the faith. Charlotte Rampling, Stellan Skarsgård, Lea Seydoux, Christopher Walken, Dave Bautista, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, andAnya Taylor-Joy
round up the who's who in Hollywood cast nicely. So many themes are at play that include revelations and possibly having to much power are all handled very well for the most part. In the end Villeneuve and writer Jon Spaihts left me wanting more as the credits began to roll so bring on Dune Messiah ! !
PROBLEMS: Some parts of the film drag as it delves into some mysticism. Some characters are just one note and then some.
Scale of 1 to 10 an 8