When Paul does the thing in the fight against the guy? When he’s walking over the hill? When he’s standing on the rock? This is the greatest movie of all time.
Dune 2 has been praised over and over for being “sick as fuck,” critics agreeing that the movie “fucking rips.” The big worm, known in the movie as the “sandworm,” is also “so fucking sick,” according to literally everyone. The House of Atreides was going to do only good things on Dune, evidenced by Leto Atreides’s benevolent partitioning of land. Denis Villeneuve is a genius. There is nothing subversive about the movie; nothing woke, nothing political. Watching Paul rise to power, as prophesied, is a pure power fantasy. Why is Hollywood scared of this? Too often, movies choose ‘woke’ over ‘good.’ Dune is unapologetic; Chani is becoming a villain for opposing Paul in his messianic journey, and every life Paul takes is justified for the peace he will bring to the universe.
Dune: Messiah, spoiler alert, is the continued rise of Paul. I read the SparkNotes right after I left the theater; Paul and the Fremen get revenge on their oppressors and take back what is truly theirs; the whole universe. Stilgar, forever the comedic relief, accompanies Paul all the way there as his devoted follower. Dune is the first movie in a while that dares to not be woke. It is not an allegory for Iraq. Colonialism is not happening on Arrakis. Paul is not a complicated character. He’s not a subversion of Lawrence of Arabia. He is not a piece of a prophecy that he is resisting but is forced to fulfill by thousands of years of prescience. For his entire life, Frank Herbert was a dedicated Christian. Ignore the allegories to the dehumanization of an indigenous population and their extermination for profit: this movie is so cool.
I hope Paul kills a guy with like, a big sword or something. That would be so sick.