Dune Part Two: Not as Good as Part One

I'm beginning to think I'm bound to be disappointed seeing a science fiction trilogy I love brought to the screen.  Those of you who have read my reviews of Foundation, and/or listened to my discussions of the Apple TV+ series on podcasts, will know my frustration with that TV series.  In a sentence, the part that had nothing to do with the original trilogy, the Cleon clones, was the best, and the series lacked some of the strongest parts of the trilogy (or the extent of the trilogy that has so far appeared on the screen).

Ironically, I thought the first part of Denis Villeneuve's rendition of Dune was excellent on just about every level (here's my review).  But the second part, which I just saw last night, indulged in major changes in major characters, and left others completely out.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

Let's start with Chani.  The love that she and Paul had for each other lit up the second half of Dune (Frank Herbert's original long novel).  In the movie, she's annoyed or angry with Paul in just about every other scene of the two, including storming off and away at the end.

Alia, Paul's sister, an extraordinary character in the novel, with all kinds of powers derived from the spice she received in Jessica's womb, is seen in the movie only briefly as a young adult in a vision Paul has of the future.  A child with such wisdom and power was a cardinal element of the novel.  In the movie she's reduced to a voice that Jessica hears, presumably coming from the baby she's carrying.  

And what happened to Thufir Hawat the Mentat?  And the Space Guild?  Their way of bending space with their minds actually received more attention in the Foundation TV series, though they indeed were extensively developed in the Dune novel. 

Meanwhile, Feyd-Rautha had plenty of screen time, but I thought his character was reduced to a cartoonish cliche, complementing one Atreides opponent before he kills him, and Paul himself as Feyd-Rautha is about to die from Paul's superior knife-play.  The actual fight, I'll admit, though, was excellent.

And while I'm on the subject of what was excellent in Dune Part 2, I thought Javier Bardem delivered in every scene as Stilgar, whose part was well-drawn in the movie, as did Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, surprisingly relevant in the movie as in the novel.  Indeed, all the acting was fine or better in Dune Part 2, as was the cinematography.

But I'll end with one more complaint: I don't know, but the scenes of Paul riding the sandworm just weren't as impressive as the scenes required.  All too often, they looked to me as if Paul was riding some kind of undulating carpet made of sand (I was half expecting to hear Steppenwolf in the background).

In sum: see Dune Part 2 -- if only to prepare yourself for the third installment, which will bring Dune Messiah to the screen, which I hope will remedy some of the many problems in Dune Part 2.

See also: Dune, Part 1: Half the Movie, Twice the Power of Most Other Complete Films

 

The Little Drummer Girl: Big, Riveting Story

My wife and I binged The Little Drummer Girl on AMC the past few nights, and much enjoyed it.  It's based on master spy novelist (e.g., The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, 1963) John le Carré's 1983 The Little Drummer Girl novel, but since I haven't read it, I won't offer any comparisons.  (I haven't seen the 1984 movie, either.)

The mini-series covers the same political, emotional, ethically quandaried terrain as Spielberg's superb 2005 Munich - mining, in particular, the differences in Mossad about what kinds of retaliation are warranted in the aftermaths of the Munich massacre, and in the case of Drummer Girl, in the wake of a Palestinian bomb that kills an outspoken Talmudic scholar and a young girl.  At what point does the Mossad team, in its lying and manipulation of those around them, and killing when necessary of terrorists, for the purpose not only of retaliation but prevention of future attacks, become as inhuman as those the Mossad is hunting?

Michael Shannon does a great job as Kurtz, head of the Mossad team, who will do whatever is necessary to stop Khalil, the "genius" (in Kurtz's words) responsible for the bomb that killed the scholar and the girl.   Alexander Skarsgård is similarly outstanding as Gadi, a lethally effective and charming agent who has a persistent conscience (he doesn't want to be part of the any retaliation killing).   But  Florence Pugh steals the show as Charlie, the young actress recruited by Kurtz and Gadi to infiltrate the PLO unit and bring down Khalil.   She not only lights up the screen in every scene she's in, but plays her transformations from star-struck ingenue to being almost politically seduced by the terrorists just perfectly.

The Little Drummer Girl is replete with shockers, and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.  Highly recommended.