Dune: Part Two (2024)

Almost ridiculously epic and far too long, this second part of the Frank Herbert sci-fi adaptation is again directed by Denis Villeneuve.

Paul Atreides unites with the Fremen people of Arrakis to wage war on House Harkonnen. 

There are too many shots of Zendaya scowling at Timothée Chalamet.

It’s visually stunning but also quite ponderous in places.

Dune: Part One (2021)

Denis Villeneuve’s remake of the Frank Herbert novel previously filmed by David Lynch. It’s certainly more coherent than the Lynch version, but some of the wild imaginative magic of that film has been lost. Instead, everything looks great, and is incredibly epic, but it comes across as rather ponderous. Every word or sentence uttered seems intended to carry great gravitas, and sometimes you wish there was a little more life in the drama. That said, the spectacle is remarkable and the vast planetscapes are undeniably impressive.

Timothée Chalamet seems oddly weedy as Paul Atreides, but that’s presumably the point. He’s young and naive but carrying the potential of greatness, and he grows in stature as the film progresses. Better is Rebecca Ferguson as his mother and Oscar Isaacson as his father. Josh Brolin and Charlotte Rampling have small, but important parts, but seem somewhat underused. 

The second part will be released in 2024.

The Greatest Showman (2017)

This film is so different to anything I have seen before. Superficially it’s a musical biopic of the circus impresario P.T. Barnum. However it’s not really about the story at all, and there’s very little dialogue. It’s built around the songs and the spectacular choreography and lighting. It doesn’t look “realistic” and it doesn’t even try to. Instead it presents a kind of hyper reality in which the colours are more colourful and the lights are brighter and deeper. There is a fairly heavy-handed message about embracing diversity, and in that sense this film could only have been made now. With these themes there’s no way it could have been produced even 10 years ago. 

The songs are strong and it’s visually remarkable. Plus, Hugh Jackman is likeable in the central role – even if his character is given an almost Jesus-like level of idealisation. Michelle Williams is less impressive as his wife, mainly because she isn’t fleshed out as a character. You could argue that it’s emotionally shallow, but penetrating psychological drama is not what this film is about. Instead, it’s a big, loud, fast-moving in-your-face spectacle.

Life (2017)

Horror sci-fi directed by Daniel Espinosa. 

A crew of six aboard the International Space Station intercept samples from Mars that turn out to contain a deadly organism. This life form quickly grows in size and power, endangering the crew, the mission and possibly humanity itself. 

Life was criticised for being reminiscent of Alien and Gravity and it’s true that there are similarities with both of those classics. However, what it does it does extremely well: it’s suspenseful and even has a hint of the blackest humour – especially in the bitter twist of the ending. 

The six characters are well drawn and Rebecca Ferguson is especially convincing as Dr. Miranda North. The only thing that pulled me out of the film was that Jake Gyllenhaal plays a character who is too “weird” and “troubled” to fit the easygoing well-balanced profile of an astronaut. He would never have passed the psychometric tests for selection.

The music, by Jon Ekstrand, is terrific and does a lot to build the mood.