I decided to shell out the $30 to buy the digital copy now instead of waiting until the price came down. (The rental price was $25) I was amazed at how well they stayed with the book. It was so much fun to see the costumes and scenery.
Many times, the movies are not as good as the book. They leave things out. Characters are different. Things get added. There are always things that have to change to help the story adapt to the run time and format. I couldn’t tell that they’d changed anything at all except for making Dr. Keynes female instead of male.
I really hope it doesn’t take forever for part 2 to come out. They ended the movie at the mid-point of the book. It left me hanging because I was ready for the action to go right into the next phase, but the credits rolled.
I think the only thing I was disappointed about was the Barron. The book mentions that the barron is fat and has suspensors to help him get around. Once again, they decided to carry that too far and make the Barron float around the room.
Maybe I missed something while reading, but I never got the image of the Baron doing much of anything, but walking supported by his suspensors. I also don’t remember the Baron being hurt by the poison gas, either. They might be trying to omit the fact that the Baron was gay. I guess I’ll just have to wait for the next movie to come out.
I will say this, though, Timothée Chalamet is HOT; I enjoyed the opening scene of him waking up in his skintight pajamas. From the previews, I knew they had cast Paul well. Timothée definitely fits the description in every way. Tall, thin, soft spoken. He was a natural fit for the role. I also liked how they didn’t make the Bene Gesserit bald like they did in the original movie; they looked like the beautiful women they should be. The “voice” was a little over the top, but it worked. They could have done better with the imagery used when Paul has his hand in the box, too.
The only thing I think they left out was leading up to the the night the Harkonnen’s attacked. There were some details that could have helped the story a little more. I don’t think it would have been a stretch to put in the tension between Jessica and Gurney. They didn’t mention how the Duke had made Gurney suspect Jessica was a Harkonnen spy. They dropped subtle hints that Dr. Yueh was the conspirator, but that could have been much needed detail.
Overall, I thoroughly loved the movie and I hope they make the next one.
