Dune : Part Two
Spice Spectacle
PRAISE: Director Denis Villeneuve returns to the universe originally created by writer Frank Herbert for a deeper dive into its characters and back to the tug of war for control of the planet and its most valuable resource, called spice.
The various actors do a fine job of bringing their characters to life as the sands shift so do the characters mindsets go from joy to vengeful anger. Austin Butler is a standout as the sadistic psychopath Feyd-Rautha. Director Denis Villeneuve is an ally and dedicated to the source material he connects this story of faith, doubt, denying and accepting destiny to incredible visuals from the vastness of a dessert, to silent flights and rumbling explosions. The romance between Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and Chani (Zendaya)is believable especially when the film is about to reach a turning point. As
Fremen leader, Stilgar Javier Bardem is very believable as a keeper of the faith. Charlotte Rampling, Stellan Skarsgård, Lea Seydoux, Christopher Walken, Dave Bautista, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, andAnya Taylor-Joy
round up the who's who in Hollywood cast nicely. So many themes are at play that include revelations and possibly having to much power are all handled very well for the most part. In the end Villeneuve and writer Jon Spaihts left me wanting more as the credits began to roll so bring on Dune Messiah ! !
PROBLEMS: Some parts of the film drag as it delves into some mysticism. Some characters are just one note and then some.
Scale of 1 to 10 an 8
Land of Bad
INTENSE !!
PRAISE: I have to admit I usually don't have much faith in two weeks in a movie theater then to streaming movies but every once in awhile a nice entertaining surprise comes along.
This movie about a Delta Force team being ambushed in enemy territory, and rookie officer refuses to abandon them has a slow build that really pays off.
Small bits of information are provided for the main characters Playboy” (Liam Hemsworth) Abel (Luke Hemsworth), Bishop (Ricky Whittle), and “Sugar” (Milo Ventimiglia) but it's just enough for me to care about the harrowing and deadly situations they find themselves in. As drone pilot Reaper” Russel Crowe is in partially grumpy mode weathered by years of service and multiple marriages he is still on point. I had fun watching him on screen as the voice of reason guiding the soldiers through their ordeal, think Bruce Willis and Reginald Vel Johnson in Die Hard. Even with all of the great action sequences and kills the movie manages to insert some humor and playful scenes in between. There are some great moments of suspense and I loved the way the movie was shot.
PROBLEMS: At times the movie can be repetitive. One repetitive moment definitely got an unintentional laugh out of me.Some predictable moments around the edges of the movie.
Scale of 1 to 10 an 8
variety.com
www.bbc.com
www.avclub.com
ew.com
www.foxnews.com
globalnews.ca
www.theringer.com
