Finally finished this yesterday. It took me a few days to get through it, not because it wasn’t good but as I’ve already mentioned in this thread, some other responsibilities have kept me from it and I wanted to really be able to focus on this movie as I watched it.
All in all, I think it’s pretty great. It is a bit choppy at times and some characters unfortunately get the short end of the stick but it’s a very solid adaptation of the book; certainly a million times better than the garbage Lynch version. As many have said, it’s a difficult property to adapt but I think Denis did a stellar job here. The action sequences, particularly the attack on House Atreides, are fantastic, as are all the visuals of Arrakis, deep space and Caladan. I’m not sure I’m crazy about the Harkonnens looking like Cenobites; not really because it looks bad but more because it makes them look like villains I’ve already seen in a dozen of so other movies. But it’s fine. Hopefully at least Feyd will look more human than the rest of his family.
Standouts: Chalamet and Ferguson have the largest and probably most difficult roles in that they have to carry most of the film. And when you consider that Paul isn’t the most engaging character to begin with (at least not in this part of the book), it’s admirable that Chalamet managed to give him a bit of depth. Though he does get a bit too “Jon Snow” in his brooding. Ferguson adds more warmth to Jessica than I was expecting, and I like that. Because she still comes off like a capable badass and leader.
I’ll also give shoutouts to Momoa, Rampling and Duncan-Brewster; their roles are fairly small but they shine in what they are given. Momoa in particular surprised me; he was a lot less bro-ish than I expected. I would have loved to see a prologue sequence where he finds and bonds with the Fremen.
Lastly, it’s funny that Bautista felt a need to call out Marvel for having him act like an idiot for most of his MCU appearances when all he does here is come off like a moron. He really didn’t do anything of significance (which is pretty much in line with Rabban in the book, lol) so either a lot of stuff was left on the cutting room floor or else he’s just overrating his own performance.
