I am glad that the movie didn't do that, I liked it precisely for the reason that it made me the fly on the wall of a greater story. I know we are used to get likeable protagonists, but ultimately I often perceive these as cheap tricks that take away from my feeling of immersion for a place. Because all the usual plotpoints and hyperfunctionalized narratives ultimately tend to turn the world they take place in into exchangable backdrops, which is the polar opposite of the idea of the Dune series, where a Place (Arakis) influences the lifes of whole societies in interesting ways. I am glad that Villeneuve managed to do without the classical Hollywood-Three-Act-Script-Consultant-Techniques that make so much of todays movie production bland and unwatchable (for people like me), precisely for the same reason: I can't care for stories where I feel the cheap tricks that make it up at every corner.
But there are cheap tricks here too. The trademark Zimmer wall of sound to make a scene "impressing", the wide long shots of CGI sceneries where no one lives, the dark/cloudy environments to avoid showing more detail...
As bot a VFX artist and a musician I can assure you that neither of those tricks were cheap : )
Yeah I think you could have gotten very far with a light touch here. For instance, just a few well-placed character moments between Paul and his father would have heightened the impact of what happens later in the film. And maybe also a few scenes where the characters are actually experiencing joy together to better contrast the hardships later on. The tone of the movie is generally so dour and one-note - maybe that is part of the aesthetic Villeneuve is trying to create, but I think even a little bit of emotional range could have gone a long way.
Yeah at least the david lynch opening sets the stage, but I think you could do better than just direct exposition from a floating head. For instance maybe have a voice over while showing a navigator use the spice to travel safely in space.
Or maybe show some important event in interstellar politics and explain how it was made possible by spice.
I think there are different ways you could do it.
You mean like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7FcJwg6OkA&t=229s
> The movie could probably have used a bit more teen angst
So glad it didn't, teenage angst is the most uninteresting thing in the world
It's like 2049 in the sense that both overly rely on the admittedly really great cinematography, score and atmosphere. I enjoyed both but 2049 had a somewhat thin plot while Dune spent most of the movie on exposition and set-up as if I'm watching the first episode of a TV show.
Your points are well taken. The movie could probably have used a bit more teen angst between Paul and Chani or somebody else to help with caring about characters for people new to the book. I loved it because I've read the book and seen the other movie and TV shows, but I can see how it would come across a bit like Blade Runner 2049 where it had amazing visuals but could leave certain audiences bored.