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Stunning to look at, bold in scope and in worldbuilding. I knew nothing about Dune going in, and there were pieces that I didn't fully understand, but I LOVED that. It felt like I was watching the first part of something HUGE.
The only comparison I can make would be to if I watched Star Wars (A New Hope) back in 1977 without knowing anything else about it. In real life the first SW movie I saw in the theater was Return of the Jedi, and I believe I saw Star Wars first at home from a VHS my dad recorded off of HBO or something. But either way I was too young to know what I was watching, and at the time I was already aware of the universe through toys and such. But if I'd been an adult in 1977, watching Star Wars, there would be tons of stuff I didn't fully understand. It is clear in A New Hope that there is all kinds of backstory that isn't explained. Now, in 2021 we know that there have been entire movies made off of a few lines of dialogue in A New Hope, not to mention all the books, TV shows, etc.
I felt the same way watching Dune. The stuff I didn't know re: backstory and the meaning of certain lines of dialogue added depth to what I was seeing - it made the universe feel HUGE. It's a REALLY bold move to make a film like that, with absolutely no guarantee that additional movies get made, but I really enjoyed it.
Regarding the "white savior" conversation, I didn't really get those vibes because it was clear to me that Paul is flawed as a "savior". Felt a bit like the first Matrix film in that way to me - where Neo is seen by an oppressed group as a prophesied messiah figure, but that was actually part of the plan by the machines. Again I know nothing of Dune besides this move, but it seems to me like Paul as a "savior" s really just part of the plan of his mother's group of witches, and they are clearly working with the emperor.
My one issue is with the ending. It felt anti-climatic given the huge stakes throughout the rest of the film. And I get the point of what they were doing - the stakes in that final fight weren't about Paul vs. Jamis, but Paul vs. Paul and his evolution in killing a man and becoming accepted by the Fremen. I'm not saying they needed to end this one by "blowing up the Death Star", but they also didn't do enough in the film to show how huge it was in Paul killing Jamis and joining the Fremen. There were subtle hints - on my second watch I noticed that in Paul's dreams of the future, Jamis was his teacher, and you could definitely see that as what happened in that last fight. But what could have given it more weight would be if earlier in the film we saw Paul faced with the decision of whether to kill a man or not, and maybe having Duncan or Gurney or his father save him from that decision by killing the enemy for him. That would made the growth at the end more impactful IMO. They also could have added some type of subtle cliffhanger at the end - maybe showing the emperor hearing about Paul and his mother still being alive or something.
But again, I loved this film - watched it twice. I REALLY hope it does enough numbers for them to continue with the second half of the book, and I definitely plan on reading it.
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