Bens_MovieLens’s review published on Letterboxd:
My most anticipated movie of all time and wow that was disappointing. People are comparing it to the likes of Return Of The King and The Empire Strikes Back but to me it's at the same sort of level as The Dark Knight Rises. A great cast, some fantastic sequences but an absolute mess. The storytelling was terrible and the pacing was even worse. There's about an hour of this film which was dragged out so much and I've forgotten pretty much everything which happened in this middle part. What else didn't help was the script, which was pretty average and lackluster in my opinion.
However, there are of course so many positives with the main ones being the breathtaking cinematography and visuals. It is easily one of the most beautiful movies of the decade which at this point is no suprise because every film in Villeneuve's filmography is stunning. Most of the acting performances were good, with Timothee Chalamet really dominating towards the end and Austin Butler was fantastic although he didn't get enough screen time. However, Javier Bardem's character was poorly written and that had an impact on his performance which was below par for his standards. The action sequences are absurdly good with the final fight between Paul and Feyd-Reutha being super smooth with great choreography. The score from Hans Zimmer was sensational yet again, and really helped elevate the tension in the latter stages of the film. The costumes, sets and make up are brilliant too and managed to sur the first one in that regard.
Overall, the storytelling, plot and script were not great at all on this first watch and it actually results in Dune Part Two going last in my Denis Villeneuve ranking. Blade Runner 2049 went from a 3.5 to a 5 on one rewatch so I'd definitely be willing to give this another go but as of now, this is a little overhyped in my eyes.
71/100 💥
