Dune's Mixed Reception

This month. It's coming this month people, and I can hardly wait. Americans will have to wait until next month though; for them October 22 is the date. I'm talking about Villeneuve's adaption of Dune of course; only once before in my life have I so eagerly anticipated a film, and that was when Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back was announced...

Not even Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy awakened in me the anticipation I have for Dune, even though the Lord of the Rings book series is my second favorite of all time, right after Frank Herbert's masterpiece. Until now, all the news surrounding the Dune film has amounted to me being very confident that this time we'll be treated to a faithful and epic adaptation. I say "this time" because David Lynch's 1984 was neither faithful to the original story, nor a success at the box office, and the 2000 Sci Fi Channel miniseries had better storytelling but lacked the budget and acting prowess to do the epicness of Frank Herbert's world-building justice.

I was so glad when I learned that it was Denis Villeneuve who would direct the film. If anyone can film the unfilmable, it's him for sure. He already made cinematic art pieces like Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, Sicario, Prisoners and Enemy, and he's a self-proclaimed life-long fan of the Dune book series. And the trailers that have been released confirm that he has poured his heart and soul into this film. Or at least this first part of a film... And that's where my main worry lies for two reasons. This first is that this first part has to make enough money to justify the making of the second film. The second worry is that this first film will consequently only cover the first half of the first book, which leaves open the question where exactly in the story this part will end, and if that end will be satisfying at all for the general public.

I've read maybe 10 to 12 reviews from journalists who've seen screenings of the film at Venice film festival, and the opinions are split. Almost all agree that this is an audio-visual and cinematographic masterpiece of epic proportions. The film is literally huge in its scope in terms of the world, spaceships and story. But many aren't so sure that Villeneuve handled the storytelling as well as he could have. Specifically there was much criticism about the film's second half and the ending, making me fear that my second worry is about to come true when I go to see the film for myself in two or three weeks. I believe IGN's review concludes with the best summary of the negative reviews I've seen:

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is beautiful to behold, a faithful adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel. Or of its first half, that is. And therein lies the problem that the film faces, for in cutting this story into two parts, Villeneuve has front-loaded Dune with a lot of set-up and no obvious way to end things… and so it lingers, and eventually overstays its welcome. This is a technically brilliant, visually amazing movie with a top-notch cast and deep sci-fi concepts. A shame, then, that it feels like a drag in its back half.
_{source: IGN}

This IGN review is linked above for your pleasure, and I've also linked two videos with more positive reviews. That's my bias and wishes coming to the front though, because from what I have seen in total, opinions are split 50/50, despite Rotten Tomatoes 85% fresh score. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and urge you all to go see this on the biggest screen you can find or afford to travel to; everyone agrees on the visually amazing qualities of this film. And like I said: the box office success will determine if we ever get to see the conclusion of Villeneuve's vision for Dune's first book.

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