Just watched the new Villeneuve version of Dune. In addition to being an A-grade scifi epic, it accomplishes the nearly impossible: clarity. The screenwriter actually understood the novel and boiled it down to its most basic elements. Brilliant work.
I’ve previously watched the David Lynch version and the Syfy version. The reputation that Dune is difficult to adapt to screen is well-earned. This new version does an excellent job. There are numerous scenes where characters state the main plot points and motivations in simple language. While these are in fact info dumps, they feel quite natural and unforced.
My favorite character is Chani. Had a vicarious crush on her when reading Frank Herbert’s novel as a teenager. The actress playing her (Zendaya) is gorgeous. Wish she could have had more screen time. I like that they pronounced her name CHAH-nee like I hear it in my head, rather than CHAY-nee like Frank Herbert himself said it. CHAH-nee is a more international pronunciation, so it conveys the exotic nature of a different culture on a different world.
It was clever to have the sand liquefy when a sand worm approaches. The notion that powerful vibrations liquefy soil is physically accurate, and it helps explain how such an enormous creature can basically swim through the desert.
A few nitpicks:
- The knife fight between Paul and Jamis takes place at dawn in the open desert. One of the Fremen even comments on how bad an idea that is. In the book, the fight takes place inside the sietch, which makes a lot more sense.
- They carry Jamis’ body as they march off at the end of the movie. This totally contradicts the desert survival lore of Dune. In the book, they render his water and carry only the bottles.
- The ornithopters are patterned after dragonflies, which is cool. However, there’s no way they could fly. A helicopter does not reverse the direction of it’s blades at all, much less thousands of times per second. Can anyone say “metal fatigue”? The ornithopter blades are not oriented in a direction that could supply upward thrust. And the density of air relative to the density of dragonflies is much different than for large metal vehicles.
- The beam that tracks Duncan’s ornithopter should nail him immediately. He moves in a predictable pattern, and even a human operator would be able to get ahead of him. Of course, if the bad guys have deadly accuracy, it kind of ruins the story.
- Jessica is a bit too overwrought. I think her feelings as a mother would have more impact if they leak through an impeccable exterior, kind of like Spock from Star Trek.
- The scene where the Sardaukar do a human sacrifice seems gratuitous. It is there to show us how bad they are, and perhaps by extension how tough they are. It would be more effective if they showed training exercises, perhaps filled with an equal amount of brutality.