I have to start by saying that I absolutely loved the first movie. I wasn't familiar with the story and I went with zero expectations, only to be completely stunned by the masterful artwork that was Dune Part 1.
The music, the sound, the visuals, the entire world and its atmosphere, the characters even the plot, I found everything beautifully crafted and a breath of fresh air for the Sci-Fi genre.
I am not familiar with the source material so this is considering only the movies and while I had a deep desire to love this second part specially considering the reviews it has been getting and how much I loved the first one, I couldn't help but feel a slight disappointment... Let's start with the positives - the cinematography is consistently out of this world, it is a visual wonder, a mix of practical effects with CGI that blends in perfectly. The intense and dramatic sound effects associated with a thrilling and daunting soundtrack delivers! And of course the acting is consistently good, this time around it was great to see Javier Barden's character being developed and bringing some great topics to the table.
What makes me wonder the most to be honest is how different both the first movie and the second are being reviewed by the general public.. For once its running time is considerable (almost 3 hours) and somehow it feels strangely rushed... It's a bit odd to explain but in other words, we get so many scenes that feel that don't contribute at all to the narrative and out of the blue we transition to a scene where the main character changes the demeanor entirely without much build up leading to it.. The movie spends so much time trying to connect Paul to the Fremens, yet it fails to explore his own inner motivations, the moment we see his character changing, it gives you the feeling that you missed something.
Paul's betrayal to Chani also feels a bit irrelevant since the chemistry built on the first movie seems to just dissipate... The relationship with his mother is also very odd and inconsistent, her character becomes dark fairly early in the movie, in one moment she is her beloved mother and without much shared screen time he then seems to almost despise her by the end of the film without the audience having a deeper understanding of their relationship dynamic.
The newly introduced villains are one dimensional and having Austin Butler's character seemed pointless... there was no goal for him, he gets killed off almost instantly alongside with the Baron who got so much build from the first movie... An A list of actors like Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Léa Seydoux, all of them could've been amazing characters but get zero chance of showing that.
An entire plot with Paul's sister goes out the drain as well... messing with time started to become promising but it leads nowhere... I mean I could go on, in short the movie had many plot gaps, didn't develop the characters properly, poorly introduced the newcomers and relied heavily on its outstanding cinematography and sound.
It's a shame because I can't tell you how excited I was to write a praising review, but this was my honest opinion which apparently doesn't seem to align with the majority.
A lot of scenes drag without much substance to it, the highlight of the film was Javier Barden's character and the messages behind the dangerous of the concept of a Messia.
I am of course hopeful for the third movie, maybe with my expectations now lowered it becomes a great experience all over again.
The music, the sound, the visuals, the entire world and its atmosphere, the characters even the plot, I found everything beautifully crafted and a breath of fresh air for the Sci-Fi genre.
I am not familiar with the source material so this is considering only the movies and while I had a deep desire to love this second part specially considering the reviews it has been getting and how much I loved the first one, I couldn't help but feel a slight disappointment... Let's start with the positives - the cinematography is consistently out of this world, it is a visual wonder, a mix of practical effects with CGI that blends in perfectly. The intense and dramatic sound effects associated with a thrilling and daunting soundtrack delivers! And of course the acting is consistently good, this time around it was great to see Javier Barden's character being developed and bringing some great topics to the table.
What makes me wonder the most to be honest is how different both the first movie and the second are being reviewed by the general public.. For once its running time is considerable (almost 3 hours) and somehow it feels strangely rushed... It's a bit odd to explain but in other words, we get so many scenes that feel that don't contribute at all to the narrative and out of the blue we transition to a scene where the main character changes the demeanor entirely without much build up leading to it.. The movie spends so much time trying to connect Paul to the Fremens, yet it fails to explore his own inner motivations, the moment we see his character changing, it gives you the feeling that you missed something.
Paul's betrayal to Chani also feels a bit irrelevant since the chemistry built on the first movie seems to just dissipate... The relationship with his mother is also very odd and inconsistent, her character becomes dark fairly early in the movie, in one moment she is her beloved mother and without much shared screen time he then seems to almost despise her by the end of the film without the audience having a deeper understanding of their relationship dynamic.
The newly introduced villains are one dimensional and having Austin Butler's character seemed pointless... there was no goal for him, he gets killed off almost instantly alongside with the Baron who got so much build from the first movie... An A list of actors like Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Léa Seydoux, all of them could've been amazing characters but get zero chance of showing that.
An entire plot with Paul's sister goes out the drain as well... messing with time started to become promising but it leads nowhere... I mean I could go on, in short the movie had many plot gaps, didn't develop the characters properly, poorly introduced the newcomers and relied heavily on its outstanding cinematography and sound.
It's a shame because I can't tell you how excited I was to write a praising review, but this was my honest opinion which apparently doesn't seem to align with the majority.
A lot of scenes drag without much substance to it, the highlight of the film was Javier Barden's character and the messages behind the dangerous of the concept of a Messia.
I am of course hopeful for the third movie, maybe with my expectations now lowered it becomes a great experience all over again.