Why are Denis Villeneuve's Dune movies loved by audience and critics? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 9 months ago by wolf@lemmy.zip to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

29 comments fedilink hide all child comments

When watching movies, I always try to differentiate between my personal enjoyment and the inherent merits of the movies. There are a lot of bad movies, which I totally and thoroughly enjoy watching, and some really great movies, which I don't enjoy that much, but still can respect/appreciate.

With this prelude, I totally do not get the positive reactions to Denis Villeneuve's Dune movies. At the time I am writing this question, part two has 94% critique and 95% audience score at Rotten Tomatoes, 9.0 at IMDB.

In my opinion, Dune 1 and Dune 2 have obviously high production values and good special effects. What I do not like is the acting, the pacing, the total flat/simple characters and the whole narration, which is for me a trivial love story between Chani and Paul, plus becoming a leader and get some revenge. I could simply replace the 'Dune' theme with a standard war theme and a few tribes, and I would have exactly the same movie. Also the battle scenes at the end of part 2, they are for me totally cookie cutter war movie/battle aesthetics. (Total waste: There are big Sandworms after all, and combat with personal shields etc.).

My question is, especially if you very much enjoyed watching the Dune movies:

Why did you personally enjoy the movie?
Do you think this movies have some inherent merits?
How do you like the acting/plot/pacing?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] wolf@lemmy.zip 7 points 9 months ago

It is a long time ago, when I read the books, and I liked, that they where very political and changed the narrator often (if I remember correctly). To say, I kept them in good memory w/o the urge of reading them ever again. ;-)

[-] SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world 22 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The books are full of intrigue, subtle plots and other plots.

It’s a book that when read a second time you come away with an entirely new experience armed with the knowledge (and familiarity) of the first read.

Dune 1 (haven’t seen part 2 yet) just captures the feel of all the forces, pressures and consequences of the book.

It goes for a “show don’t tell” kind of storytelling that really works to get a feel for it.

Not that the works merit direct comparison since they’re so different it harkens to the Lord of the Ring trilogy where you don’t get a lot of the details of the book but you get the heart of the story, world, lore and relationships of the people.

Paul is reserved, intrigued by Chani and his visions.

Jessica acts out of love over duty

The Duke brings his family to a place of what he expects to be dangerous but is also powerful and the political maneuver putting them there was airtight. Hence his duty to go, his worry for the family, the importance of being there.

All the players, all the parties, all the pressures are there. The only ones not focused on, at least in the first, is the guild which fits what was shown so far anyway.

[-] QuarterSwede@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

It’s beloved because it actually does the book justice. Exactly.

[-] wolf@lemmy.zip 3 points 9 months ago

Thank you very much for your perspective, I'll watch the first part again and see if I can discover this 'reading' of it!

this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2024

79 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27253 readers

1364 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

6) No US Politics.

Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.