Movie Review: Dune (2021)

Dune
Oct 22, 2021
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writer: Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Jason Momoa
Rating: PG-13 (Some Disturbing Images|Sequences of Strong Violence|Suggestive Material)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure
Runtime: 2h 35m
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence, only those who can conquer their own fear will survive.

Dune was the first sci-fi series I read...we are talking early 80s (I was 13-ish). I had never been so emersed in a fictional world up to that point. I dreamed about Dune. Then around book 5, I lost interest. I was excited when the movie came out in 1984 (I was a high school junior). But it was disappointing. It didn't capture the magic I experienced in the books.

I was a little hesitant when I heard it was being remade. Once I saw the trailer, I was on board and ready to give it another chance. And I was not disappointed this time!

Dune 2021 is an experience. They don't tell the story. They show the world--you experience it. The movie has a suspenseful foreboding mood you feel deep down. The cinematography is beautiful...yes, it does go over the top sometimes but that's Hollywood. The dramatic music was a bit cliche at some moments.

There was no story info-dumping. Which was nice. But if you haven't read the book I can see how some of it might be confusing.

My husband and I loved it (he never read the book). We plan on watching it again.

4.5 "spice" Sheep

Sharon

Sheep Movie Review: Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 2049

October 6, 2017

Directed By: Denis Villeneuve

Written By: Michael Green, Hampton Fancher

Rating: R (for violence, some sexuality, nudity, and language)

Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Produced by: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Runtime: 164 minutes

Based on characters from the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
by Philip K. Dick.
Official Sites: http://bladerunnermovie.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/BladeRunner2049/

Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. 

I remember going to the movie theater in San Diego, California with my husband to see Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford, in 1982. We had both enjoyed the science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott. This time, 35 years later, my husband and I returned to a movie theater in Midlothian, Virginia to see a film set 30 years later.

Since the original film, a new, more obedient type of replicant has been developed by a corporation led by a tech visionary (Jared Leto). The blade runner (police who go after errant replicants--synthetic humans) K, finds a long-buried secret, plus some memories have been resurfacing which make him question if are they implanted or the real thing. K sets out on a quest to find former blade runner (who is human) Rick Deckard (still played by Harrison Ford) who hasn’t been seen in 30 years. He may hold a key to those secrets and even his memories. There is a possibility of a child, who may bring on a revolution led by replicants.

Visually stunning and its narrative satisfying, it answers the question of what happened to blade runner Deckard since he flew away with replicant Rachel at the end of the original, classic film Blade Runner, while still being an impressive filmmaking achievement in its own right. It proves a sequel can be just as good as the original. And though there are no spaceship battle special effects or fast-paced excitement, this is still one of the best films I’ve seen this year. It keeps you interested until the end. The world building and its effects are super. You can believe in the smoky neon-noir dystopian atmosphere of Los Angeles and California in 2049. There is some great action, not every moment of the movie, but when it happens, it is a heart pounder. Ryan Gosling does well as K, at first tough and robot-like with one smile, then growing more human as he searches for the truth. Harrison Ford still works for me as Deckard, gruff and loveable, though less of the touch of Deckard we remember in Blade Runner and more like Indiana Jones to me. But he shines well in his role, revealing that maybe age and love of Rachel has softened him. Jared Leto is creepy as genius-industrialist Niander Wallace, but it is Wallace's assistant Sylvia Hoeks, who steals the show as the vicious replicant Luv. Even Ana de Armas as K's AI companion, Joi, has the film’s poignant role. This is not a film like The Avengers or Star Wars, instead, this will make you think and ponder of the role of the replicants in this future and who or what is truly human. Most of all, it is an enjoyable film, a carefully engineered narrative puzzle, and its power dissipates as the pieces snap into place. Though its predecessor is a classic, I think this one holds up well and is worth a look while it is on the big screen.

I give Blade Runner 2049 4 ½ replicant sheep.

Pamela K Kinney