Dune 2 (2024)

[tremault]

I'm surprised there is no topic about this movie yet. Has anyone seen it?

Spoilers of course.

I watched it today and I feel it was certainly worthwhile, but it was not as strong as the first. My general impression was a lack of contrast throughout. The movie spent so much time purely on Arrakis, so the locations had limited contrast. from shot to shot, there was not enough contrast and the shots that ought to have been more striking, seemed to fall flat. The scene were Paul fights the evil harkonnen dude, I found myself feeling rather underwhelmed and disappointed that I didn't really feel any impact. Then there was the soundscape, that felt like it was constantly the same powerful deep orchestral score, but it was happening so much that it had a reduced impact. Some of the visuals themselves were very muddy and there was that bit where it turned black and white and to be honest it was so noticeable that it just took me out of the movie altogether. I understand the artistic reason for it, but it made little sense in-universe. I would have found it far more effective if it had a red hue, as IR light is close to red wavelengths and it would have felt at least natural somehow. The themes and the narrative and pacing, all seemed lacking in contrast so that the film was just underwhelming. I liked it, but I also felt a bit meh.

one thing that I found interesting was how Paul changed after he drank the life water. It seemed clear to me that as that event passed, Paul was no longer the hero, he was a dangerous figure now and I felt that perhaps the protagonist switched from Paul to Chani. That's the sense I got anyhow. Not sure what technique was used for that or if it was just a good performance, I'd have to watch again.

I have to say though, I felt a little annoyed when her tears plus life water = magical cure. That was asking a bit too much suspension of disbelief. perhaps they needed more foreshadowing of that for it to work for me.

 

[krausfadr]

I thought the use of infrared was a neat idea on paper but in execution on the screen it just didn’t work. The black and white look made it seem like it was supposed to be a flashback. Overall I felt the story and acting in pt 2 was better than pt 1. And all your thoughts are spot on

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

You guys understood that the effect on Geodi Prime was explained due to their black sun? I thought it was both a cool effect that DID provide a ton of contrast to Arrakis and it was well explained in-movie. I don’t know what the true science would be for a black sun or even if such a thing could exist. But it worked for me in-movie.

Edit: it’s great to have this thread, but just so you know there’s been some discussion in the other Dune thread.

 

[tremault]

Absolutely! I heard that line and it had me thinking about what that meant, which made me think of how a black sun produced such bright light, so then I was thinking how our eyes could receive any light and not have colour information and could not understand how that could happen, I'm fairly sure that's physically impossible. We are meant to believe that we are a witness to true events, not watching through a camera, the only way for us to see something black and white in a world that is supposed to be sci-fi, is via a camera, and this just brings up way too many questions. who is the character that is holding the camera, how are they in all these different locations but we never see them when viewing from other angles?
I understand the problem, if this scene is written to be in pure darkness... I don't know what the solution is, but i don't think this was it.

oh! in the thread for the first movie? okay. Thanks, I'll have a peek.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

I mean in a movie with characters riding giant sand worms, I just kind of accepted the physics of it as how things were perceived on that planet/ in that solar system. Sort of like a black light. I admit that the science-curious in me wondered about the physics but for the movie I was fine with it and never thought that it must be through a camera. Not trying to say your reaction is invalid; I just didn’t share it.

 

[asterixsmeagol]

one thing that I found interesting was how Paul changed after he drank the life water. It seemed clear to me that as that event passed, Paul was no longer the hero, he was a dangerous figure now and I felt that perhaps the protagonist switched from Paul to Chani. That's the sense I got anyhow.

I would argue that the argue that the Dune universe has no heroes. Everyone is awful. (But some are less awful than others.)

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

I would argue that the argue that the Dune universe has no heroes. Everyone is awful. (But some are less awful than others.)

These movies lean into this much more than the book does, despite Herbert’s stated intention. I think Messiah was poorly received by fans precisely for the reason SW fans didn’t like the way Luke was handled in TLJ (and I do t mean to start any debate on that movie or series). But if Paul was portrayed in the book as overtly as he is the film, I doubt anyone would’ve been surprised or turned off by Messiah.

 

[tremault]

I would argue that the argue that the Dune universe has no heroes. Everyone is awful. (But some are less awful than others.)

that's a fair comment, but I mean Paul was at least relatable and we could understand and share his motivations. Then he turned on a dime and suddenly seemed very dangerous. Of course, he predicted that was what was going to happen. In a sense, it is as though Paul has died.

I read the other topic and @Moe_Syzlak you brought up the point about all this happening within 9 months. I think that is a very good point and it does seem like an awful lot to happen in that time period. At the same time though, I felt that this movie did a poor job at indicating the passage of time. There were instances where I felt a little confused as to who I was looking at and what they were doing, because continuity was not carried over. Like when Paul was instructed to cross the desert and return, we had no conclusion to that, instead suddenly finding ourselves in an assault on a spice harvester, and I'm wondering who we are seeing here now and why we didn't see any planning for this assault.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Yeah, I’ve read the book a few times, most recently just a year ago. And while on first viewing of Part One l felt it took too long to get to the point where it ended (though I’ve felt better about it on subsequent viewings). For this one, I felt it all went by too quickly. I’ve wondered whether non-book readers would feel the same (I’m assuming you haven’t read it; apologies if you have).

I do get why it was split where it was and I do understand the compressed time line to deal with the Alia problem, but it just felt like too much happened in that nine months. I think it will all play much better as a single film. Which, by the way, it definitely seems the be set up for Part 3. The book ends abruptly as well, but this seemed to be almost as much of chapter ending as the ending of Part 1.

 

[asterixsmeagol]

I agree that the timeline was hard to grasp (and I did read the books). I think we needed a few more scenes showing him slowly embracing his role and also explicitly showing the viewer that he knows it's a bad path for the galaxy. I would also have included Jessica in the background of those scenes slowly getting more tattoos and showing her pregnancy progressing. I do like the changes they made with Chani to give her more agency, and I assume that will be even more apparent in Messiah, but I would have liked a little more exposition with Paul telling her his plan to marry Irulan for political stability and keep her as his concubine and that he wants her to mother his children, and for her to object more explicitly before she left the room in the final scene.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Almost two weeks after my first viewing I took the kids to see it at the Leonberg Traumpalast, supposedly the largest IMAX screen in the world at 38m by 22m. And, other than the moth that decided to make a cameo by landing on the projector lens in the final 10 minutes or so, it was quite the experience. For me, the best part was the sound, which was far superior to the sound in the theater I initially viewed it. Some of the closeups and closeup hand-to-hand combat were just too much but so much of this movie is beautiful wide shots and it was just so spectacular on this screen. As a book reader, I’m still not sold on the compressed time line. And I’ve got a few other minor quibbles. But it’s a pretty great two film movie IMO. Bring on Part 3!

 

[DonKamillo]

I would argue that the argue that the Dune universe has no heroes. Everyone is awful. (But some are less awful than others.)

I would say Paul is the hero of the first part and Chani becomes the hero in part 2. This is driven home by the fact, that once Paul drinks from the Water of Life we don't see much from his POV from that point on but Villeneuve deliberately starts putting us as the viewers at a distance from him. Instead Chani becomes our POV character.

There are additional hints to that, like mirroring the battlefield scene where we initially saw Paul being the (super) hero and fighting off the hords of enemies but when it actually happens it's Chani who does the fighting and the movie ends on her too.

 

[TM2YC]

Spoiler free review...

Dune: Part Two (2024)
My feeling that this was far too long and dull was exacerbated by the heating being broken in the cinema I watched it in. I thought the first film's visuals were a universal shade of drab grey/brown boredom but I was giving that first part the benefit of the doubt somewhat, 5-hours into this whole thing and I was totally sick of it. What is the point of doing something like this with so little visual imagination? Especially when Denis Villeneuve has been given a practically limitless budget to indulge that imagination. This was again magnified by this being the second half, where we've seen almost every production element in this already... bar the Harkonnen arena from 'Attack of the Clones' and a couple of shots of a garden/house in Italy. Dave Bautista is outright terrible, his and Feyd's cliched bad guy thing of killing their own dudes had me laughing after the 3rd, or 4th time. Christopher Walken looks bored to be there and Florence Pugh is wasted on a character that's possibly got less screen time than in the David Lynch version. The knife fights got very repetitive, only the assault on the harvester action scene got me excited. Part two isn't significantly worse than part one, I'm just disappointed this didn't deliver something more memorable in the end.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Lol. Maybe I shouldn’t watch Rye whatever. Kidding of course. But while I don’t feel it is the masterpiece that many are hailing it as, that is the most surprising review I’ve read; almost like you saw a different movie.

 

[DonKamillo]

Christopher Walken looks bored to be there...

The only part I agree with.

Florence Pugh is wasted on a character that's possibly got less screen time than in the David Lynch version.

Just like with Anya Taylor-Joy, who got like 10 seconds of screen time, I assume they will play a bigger role in the third movie and I don't mind characters being introduced early. Just wish they'd introduced Feyd earlier. He kinda came out of nowhere.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

The only part I agree with.


Just like with Anya Taylor-Joy, who got like 10 seconds of screen time, I assume they will play a bigger role in the third movie and I don't mind characters being introduced early. Just wish they'd introduced Feyd earlier. He kinda came out of nowhere.

Yeah, if you don’t know Messiah I’m sure it seems like a waste of talent to have certain big name actors in these bit roles. But it was that fact that made me certain a Messiah movie was coming sooner rather than later.

I think any edits should move some Feyd and Emperor/Irulan scenes into Part One. I think that was one of the biggest issues with not making these movies at the same time a la LotR.

 

[tremault]

Spoiler free review...

Dune: Part Two (2024)
My feeling that this was far too long and dull was exacerbated by the heating being broken in the cinema I watched it in. I thought the first film's visuals were a universal shade of drab grey/brown boredom but I was giving that first part the benefit of the doubt somewhat, 5-hours into this whole thing and I was totally sick of it. What is the point of doing something like this with so little visual imagination? Especially when Denis Villeneuve has been given a practically limitless budget to indulge that imagination. This was again magnified by this being the second half, where we've seen almost every production element in this already... bar the Harkonnen arena from 'Attack of the Clones' and a couple of shots of a garden/house in Italy. Dave Bautista is outright terrible, his and Feyd's cliched bad guy thing of killing their own dudes had me laughing after the 3rd, or 4th time. Christopher Walken looks bored to be there and Florence Pugh is wasted on a character that's possibly got less screen time than in the David Lynch version. The knife fights got very repetitive, only the assault on the harvester action scene got me excited. Part two isn't significantly worse than part one, I'm just disappointed this didn't deliver something more memorable in the end.

You were a little more dissatisfied than myself but I totally understand.
The trailer you posted previously made me think though, because it had one of the shots I was really underwhelmed by.
I wonder if I'm wrong about this, but I had a play around and felt like it could have had more impact if the camera was lower and using a longer lens and placing Paul to the side rather than central.
original

edited

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

Spoiler free review...

Dune: Part Two (2024)
My feeling that this was far too long and dull was exacerbated by the heating being broken in the cinema I watched it in. I thought the first film's visuals were a universal shade of drab grey/brown boredom but I was giving that first part the benefit of the doubt somewhat, 5-hours into this whole thing and I was totally sick of it. What is the point of doing something like this with so little visual imagination? Especially when Denis Villeneuve has been given a practically limitless budget to indulge that imagination. This was again magnified by this being the second half, where we've seen almost every production element in this already... bar the Harkonnen arena from 'Attack of the Clones' and a couple of shots of a garden/house in Italy. Dave Bautista is outright terrible, his and Feyd's cliched bad guy thing of killing their own dudes had me laughing after the 3rd, or 4th time. Christopher Walken looks bored to be there and Florence Pugh is wasted on a character that's possibly got less screen time than in the David Lynch version. The knife fights got very repetitive, only the assault on the harvester action scene got me excited. Part two isn't significantly worse than part one, I'm just disappointed this didn't deliver something more memorable in the end.

Have only been to see Part 1 but completely get what you're on about, I found it dull and dreary.

For all the flaws of the source, I much preferred @spicediver's Alternative Edition Redux edit (https://ifdb.fanedit.org/dune-1984-the-alternative-edition-redux-special-1080p-edition/) of David Lynch's version. Been a while since I watched it so can't make many specific comments, but I found it a more engaging work that made the new film feel flat.

Can remember the music being much more memorable and the cinematography and production design being far richer visually, compared to indistinct spaces with most of the colour washed away. The artifice in the environments and effects also helped make them feel somehow more natural to me than those of the newer film, e.g. the ornithopters felt like they came from uncanny valley.

From what I understand of the new version, it (tries to) deconstruct the type of story that the older one played straight (haven't read the book so don't know where that stands), but I have no desire to go out to catch the sequel. If feel in the mood for such a story I'll probably pop in Lawrence of Arabia instead!

 

[TM2YC]

I had a BIG problem with BR2049 due to the glacial pace of the editing, it didn't just feel slow, it was to the point of sitting there and wondering when, or if the film would ever move to another shot. But I went into DuneP1 with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised by how brisk the editing was, paced just right. I didn't notice DuneP2 having obviously slack editing like 2049, but I wonder if Villeneuve took his foot off the pedal again editing wise, when he's not worried about having another box office disaster on his balance sheet.

Another few random thoughts... I noticed he went with Irulan doing a similar exposition voiceover like he was homaging Lynch's intro. Still no spacing guild stuff? Was there really no time for it across two long movies?

 

[daedal]

You were a little more dissatisfied than myself but I totally understand.
The trailer you posted previously made me think though, because it had one of the shots I was really underwhelmed by.
I wonder if I'm wrong about this, but I had a play around and felt like it could have had more impact if the camera was lower and using a longer lens and placing Paul to the side rather than central.
original

edited

I haven't seen part two yet so I don't know when this scene takes place now why there is an explosion. but if you want my opinion I'd say that the original shows me a character powerless in front of an explosion. He is smaller and 'surrounded' by it.
The edited picture shows me a character who may have something to do with this explosion. Either he made it happen or he is waiting for it to resolves before taking advantage of its aftermaths. The composition on the edited version feels more ''dynamic'', more engaged in the action kind of...
I'm curious to know if I'm close in either case.... but this maybe spoiler area!
that was my two cents