The Takes Must Flow

I was really anticipating Denis Villeneuve's Dune (2021), and loved watching it. But: Is is better than Lynch's Dune?

I guess I won't spend any time on the plot. It goes up to the Harkonnen re-conquest of Arrakeen and Paul and Jessica meeting the Fremen. The rest of the book will be coming in Dune 2, in a few years. Splitting it up seems like a good idea - Lynch's movie suffered trying to fit the last half into 2o minutes or so.

I should say a few things about the casting:

• Timothee Chalamet as  Paul is good as the callow youth but I'm not sure how he will do as a more confident, oracular leadder.
• Oscar Isaac was good as Duke Leto, I thought. Ms. Spenser did not agree.
• Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho was a bit too Jason Momoa for me. At least we got to see him as a rough and muscular type.
• Dave Bautista, on the other hand, seemed to fit Beast Raban perfectly. 
• Stellan Skarsgaard played a somewhat toned down Baron Harkonnen. Maybe could have been a little more evil.  
• Charlotte Rampling as Mother Gaius Helen Mohim was wonderful, but perhaps a little wasted, with only one great scene.
• Sharon Duncan-Brewster as a black, female Dr. Liet-Kynes was great. I wish there was more of her.
• And of course, Zendaya is Chani - a popular choice I'm sure. She's beautiful enough for the great love of Paul's life. Also, with her spice-blue-eyes, she looks like that famous photo of the Afghan girl from National Geographic. 

All the rest were fine, I thought. Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica was quite lovely. Javier Bardem didn't make much of an impression as Stilgar, though. Maybe in the sequel.

So back to the main question. We re-watched Lynch's Dune to check our impression that it strongly Villeneuve's version. The overall structure seemed pretty close - of course, that could be due to the common source. But some scenes seemed to be shot very similarly - like the rescue at the spice harvester. Also, there were some similarities in the art direction that didn't go back to the novel. Like the Atreides uniforms with the buttons and braid. Although Villeneuve's outfits may have been a touch less fascist than Lynch's, are definitely in the same style. That style doesn't come from the novel either (according to Ms. Spenser, who is re-reading).

Our shocking conclusion: We liked the Lynch version better. His voice-over internal monolog was a good idea, although controversial. The story seemed to be easier to follow. His special effects weren't as good as Villeneuve's, of course, but I think we liked his sandworms better. Villeneuve's casting was good, but so was Lynch's. Villeneuve's Chani was better than Lynch's, but it's pretty hard to beat Lynch's Shadout Mapes or Alia of the Knife. 

Of course, after watching a few more times, I may feel different. Villeneuve does have a way of capturing humans in monumental settings. But even here I have to say, his handling of action isn't as good as you might hope, both on the tactical and strategic level. 

Still, looking forward to part 2, and many more rewatches.