Dune (take 3)

It is a recurrent 20-year tradition to adapt Dune for screens of variant sizes. It's Denis Villeneuve's turn this time.

'Tis fairest to compare this one with the Y2k miniseries on the SF Channel now called "SyFy". David Lynch's version has its fans but, frankly, only trolls rank it above the later efforts.

The special-effects are, as expected, MUCH better here than in the miniseries. The miniseries could not pull off crowd-scenes, thus making difficult to believe there existed a galaxy at stake. Also better here is its Paul, whom Timothée Chalamet plays as a callow youth with a good heart, because that's who he is. The miniseries' Paul starts as an alpha jock by Caladan standards, and never quite does grow into his rôle as Space Mohammed. (He is a sight better as the conflicted caliph and then kharajite in the next miniseries which carries Dune Messiah into Children of Dune.) The movie's Leto is better too, because he's not mumbling his lines in a hungover stupor. Although the sound-editing lets down the dialogue for him and for other actors.

Since the miniseries had no budget it trended toward filling in our exposition with ballroom and banquet scenes. I actually... liked these scenes. Especially when bringing Paul together with the Princess Irulan; there is genuine chemistry here, and humour. (Although, Paul shouldn't be returning Irulan's fancy, since - we know from his dreams - Paul already loves another.) I liked the music and colours of the pageantry, in the miniseries: House Corrino is cold, with a slightly off-key musical score; House Harkonnen is angry red, industrial, and often shot in Battlefield Earth angles.

Oh, and Harkonnen's fat baron although more menacing in this new version was just so much more fun to watch in the miniseries, which role he hams up (pun intended). You love to watch the earlier baron wheel out Yueh's wife in front of him, explaining exactly how he freed her. (Completely free!)

Here's an outright whiff in the new version - we don't get an early scene where the Duke and his concubine Jessica share intimate moments between themselves. No I am not talking about striking up the soft disco drums and heartbeat basslines. (Which we'll see late in the miniseries.) Just anything to show us why, exactly, it matters that Jessica bore her man a son, before the Bene Gesserit tells us.

Also I thought the hunter-seeker scene was done better in the original, which drew out the tension when it is Paul and the servant girl at risk. Paul acts to save the girl, thus helping convince the common Arrakian that they have an advocate.

Ah well. We'll see how the 2040 version looks.