(***Warning contains spoilers....***)
I thought it was a good movie. Not as great as I was hoping, but that may not have been a reasonable expectation.
I think Villeneuve did as good a job as possible. It was a beautifully filmed work.
The fundamental problem is, I don't think this story is possible to capture in a movie. Not ever a 2.5hr movie. Not in two 2.5hr movies.
So much had to be truncated to the point of losing vital threads of the story. The looming build up of paranoia about continued clues of a inside traitor was totally lost. The stress of wondering who might be the traitor amongst them lost a good deal of the sense of impending doom. No foreshadowing. No build up to the betrayal.
The character of Shadout Mapes should have been completely removed given how she was handled. And she was a vital plot device so the wasting her was painful. She was a vital step in forming bond between the Atreides and the Fremen. She was obviously a Fremen agent sent in to take the measure of the new rulers. Paul saving her from the hunter-killer created a blood debt and proved their bravery and willingness to risk themselves for others. In return she was supposed to confirm the existence of the mole. She was supposed to be going to warn Leto of the impending attack when she was killed in the hallway. The way it as handled she had no purpose and her death was just an unfortunate janitor in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I had some trouble with the casting. I like Jason Momoa, but he just didn't feel right as Duncan to me. I think someone like Tom Hiddleston would have been better.
I like Josh Brolin, But it felt like a stretch for the character of Gurney. I think someone like Brendan Gleeson would have been better.
The Jessica actress seemed too young to me and she was a blubbering basket case the whole movie. Jessica was certainly under high stress, but she should have been trained and discipled enough to keep it together. In the first part of the story, she was supposed to be the strength and a formidable opponent. Paul was supposed to be unsure and lacking confidence. It wasn't until Leto's confirmed death that she should finally fall apart and become a basket case for a while and that change should be striking, giving Paul the opportunity to rise to the moment and take over the burden for his mother. I just felt they flattened her character arc. The transition of leadership just didn't feel as striking as it could have been.
It really should have been done as a big budget HBO, Amazon Prime, or Netflix Original Series.
Season 1 (10 1hr long episodes) for the first half of the book.
Season 2 (10 1hr long episodes) for the second half of the book.
You might could have done the story justice.
But I'll give any movie props that just doesn't settle for another comic book remake.
