Extremely fortunate as a book reader to have seen this in IMAX 70MM Film at the BFI. Since Raph was excited, I was watching this one both for myself and him. I thought i’d be confident to say he’d love it but truth is I honestly don’t know. Which makes me sad. I never will know. 

I wish i didn’t fall into the hype cycle either. This is the first movie I have been actively excited to watch since November (not counting DUNE part one obviously) Villeneuve being probably my favourite modern director. It is just a movie. Not perfect no matter what. 

That being said, its a fucking awesome one at the exact same time. Timothee is an awesome paul, Ferguson is other-worldly, Bardem is fun and Butler?! Wtf man, dude was terrific, he’s a future Oscar winner. Themes of religion balance out the politics of the first to make a larger commentary on power, those who wield it, what they can cause both good and bad. 

My god, Villeneuve is at his best in of world building and spectacle, all the Sandworm scenes are just perfect (even if they last as long as they did in the book lmao), the hand to hand fights, seriously that one at the end, is his best action scene. And the tension during one monologue might be my favourite part of the film. 

Chani. I like most of the changes and zendaya is good. But there’s something off too. Some people in my cinema didn’t seem to quite understand Alia? And the ending. Honestly, maybe Villeneuve’s weakest? He is very strong with endings, and the final 5/10 mins are great. But it’s just as rushed as the book imo, honestly this movie is just as rushed as the book. Seriously, this should actually be 10-15 mins longer, go for the full 3 hours. 

And a warning for non book fans, Dune messiah isn’t a Return of the King, I like it but it is not what you might believe it is coming off this film. Which is maybe apart of my unenthusiastic response to the end. Raph would’ve probably not liked that too. 

Well, first long review I’ve written in a while, being on letterboxd just reminds me I dislike it but hey, this was a very special watch in some ways. 92/100