I was aware of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel as a kid before seeing the David Lynch film in 1984. My father kept an ever changing stack of sci-fi paper backs in the bathroom and the covers of the Dune series were much different than the others. When he took me to see the movie , it was a surreal experience much different than what I had seen before. With other science fiction movies the emphasis was how the world and technology changed around mankind , but with Dune the emphasis was how man changed more than technology. There were little in the way of comic relief robots . Space ships seemed also obligatory rather than the focal point. ;Lynch's version has a steam punk feel before we we even the term steam punk. Denis Villeneuve has done something very different but manages to stay true to the story and capture the tone of the books, though if you have only seen Lynch's film all the moments are still in tact.
What works is the scope he captured everything in. What worked in his take on "Blade Runner" works here, even though this is a much different future. The wardrobe choices were a little hit or miss, I think I like Lynch's costumes better. The acting is pretty on point. In some ways I think it is tailored a little too much to oblige the tastes of mainstream sci-fi pedestrians. There has to be lasers and explosions. There has to be the big battle scenes. I do not think this movie would be boring if these things were handled a little differently, but if you as which director did a better job of creating something the likes of which you had never seen before, then that would go to David Lynch. Hands down he is the more creative of the two. Denis is more of a dress up some source material and make it look weather beaten with beauty.
I think the biggest problem with this movie is how it is marketed. It just kind of ends and leaves things not resolved , not just sets it up for a sequel , but is incomplete without one. If it was Dune part one, and you knew this was all set up, then it would have felt better to me. I think the pacing of the film could have been more balanced as well. I was never bored, but this quest for the girl of my dreams with the blue eyes was a little too heavy handed. Paul's hero's journey was too brooding teen. Not to say there should not have been a little of that, it just felt off. Aside from that I will give it another shot in theaters. It does seem to rely on wowing you with visuals than leaning into the story like Lynch's but this version dumbed things down for generations who do not read and need things more spelled out, but when youy are hungry to put butts in seats and sell them pop corn to justify what had to have been a god emperor sized budget I guess that is Hollywood for you.
