Finally caught this today in Imax. I refused to watch it on HBO Max before I got the chance to watch this the way Villaneuve wanted me to. So, look, I'm a BIG Villaneuve fan, I've loved Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival and thought Bladerunner 2049 was a masterpiece when I saw that in theaters in 29017 (granted, I liked it SLIGHTLY less upon rewatch at home, I felt the slow pacing a lot more).
Dune is....complicated. It was a visceral cinematic experience for sure; this movie is without a doubt INCREDIBLY well made, an audiovisual masterpiece. The sound and music helped keep my attention throughout the runtime but I can't lie guys, I struggled with this movie. And I wanna be very careful so as not to sound as if I'm s***ing on this movie but I felt that the plot momentum was incredibly laborious and halfway through I was really getting restless and wondering where all this was going. Bladerunner 2049 was slow but it had a hook and a plot it was working towards, it was essentially a film noir mystery. Halfway through Dune my mind was wandering and struggled to stay focused. And then just as I would start to daydream, I would be woken up by sweeping vista shots and Zimmer's INCREDIBLE score. The characters also just seemed very sterile and the only one having any fun was Jason Mamoa. So, as a result it was hard to care about them.
But I think, my friends, what it really boils down to is not so much an issue with the movie...but the source material itself. I think. I think maybe Dune as a concept, as a story just doesn't gel with me personally, it's too out there for me and I like sci-fi. I watched Lynch's version a couple of weeks ago and I struggled with that one too and I'm wondering if its just the material. It just may not be as palatable as some of the Sci fi stuff that we're used to these days and that's cool. I'm very very happy this movie exists and I WILL watch part 2 and rewatch this eventually but....I don't know what to make of it.
My thoughts.