“The beauty and the horror.”

I watched this for the first time yesterday, and then watched it a second time today, which is something I almost never do. The only time I’ve done that before was with The Suicide Squad, which has been my all time favorite movie ever since it came out. I’m already planning to rewatch Dune: Part Two in theaters this week. I’m still trying to take it all in, but what this second viewing did confirm for me is that Denis Villeneuve is the best to ever do it. I love the way he builds tension, one of my favorite parts of the movie is the battle between Gurney and Glossu. There’s a great build up to the fight, and you know the stakes and how personal it is to Gurney, as well as how powerful Glossu is. It’s the perfect set up, then when they finally go to duel it’s over in less than a minute, as Gurney successfully kills him almost instantly. The violence here isn’t really epic. This also applies to how Paul kills the Baron, as Paul puts it, “you die like an animal”. Everything here feels very grim and uneasy. Paul is not a messiah, he is following the (predictable) path that many men before him have followed, one that is not about love or freedom, but power and betrayal. The past predicts the future.