[EXPRESSO] Dune Part 2 (2024) | …The Punishment Due

After being delayed, the second part of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune is finally in theathers, and again, i’m putting out there i didn’t read the novel, and oddly didn’t even saw the Lynch take on Herbert’s book, so take that into account, if you want.

After the fall of the Atreides castle and slaughtering of most of his family and friends by the rival house of the Harkonnen, Paul Atreides survives by escaping and entering the ranks of the Fremens, the sand-dwelling bluey eyed natives of the planet Arakkis, learning their ways, while waiting for a chance at revenge, and tormented by horrendous visions of a future holy war and a prophecy that points to him as the likely messiah the Fremens had been waiting for, while the Emperor and the mystical order of priestesses plot more political upheaval and prepare for conflict….

Like the first part, it’s a lot of stylish and inspired visuals (to the point i’d kinda wish i went for an IMAX screening, instead of a regular one), great characters, amazing spectacle, enthralling narrative.. let’s cut the crap, it’s amazing stuff, maybe even better than part 1, and a great pay-off that will make the almost 3 hours runtime go by swimmingly, as it’s packed but not just “dense”.

While the ending teases as this just being the beginning (fitting as the original Dune book series counted six books by his creator-writer Frank Herbert,) and i do want to see more, it actually does provide an incredible conclusion to this story, so you get closure but also one hell of a scenario to close on that will make you want to see how things will continue forwards after such a powerful, really epic finale.

Terrific stuff, some of the best sci-fi cinema in a while.

[EXPRESSO] Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part 1 (2023) | Man Machine Interface

That ol’ darn Ethan Hunt is at it again, with the seventh installment of the Mission Impossible movie series, or its first part, because – as it should be clear by now – the two parter trend is back for mainstream big budget movies released in theathers. Heck, even Fast And Furious did it!

But if you had somewhat lukewarm or mixed expectations about Dead Reckoning, especially when it also follows the other trend of making movies even longer than before, inching ever so close to that dreaded 3 hours runtime…. well, Dead Reckoning Part 1 will put those to rest, because it’s actually a rare treat, in a way, both as the new installment of a very long running series that remained mostly constant in tone and style, but also as a demonstration that this kind of blockbuster action thriller movie can still be done today and actually impress audiences.

First, the plot it’s actually very modern (though a decade before would have been considered pure sci-fi), with an advanced learning IA that went rogue, became sentient, then made its incredible power of changing reality known, thus starting a race between nations for the only item that can give control over this almost-omnipotent entity.

Ethan Hunt and his crew are enlisted too, but they realize that to do the right thing they will have to go rogue themselves, given the unbelievably high stakes at play.

In a way there’s – mostly – nothing we haven’t seen before, but the execution is so good, the dedication to not cut corners and actually use the budget where it matters, especially the incredible stuntwork, there’s just so much obvious committment to make this as intense, suspensful and entertaining as possible, while not making the long runtime feel excessive.

Quite a blast, honestly.

[EXPRESSO] Dune (2021) | Utonium Based

So, quick disclaimer: i haven’t seen the older David Lynch’s adaptation of Dune, nor read the book by Frank Herbert.

But yes, Villeneuve directing it already “sealed the deal” for me, and it has been a while since they tried to launch a saga like this… and having to deliver on the first movie of what Warner Bros it’s eyeing to be a long franchise (as the Dune cycle is made of 6 books, and this movie just adapts the first half of the first book), so they can’t just do random shit with no plans. No names needed.

And it’s also quite reasonable to expect a lot from director and writer Denis Villeneuve, but let’s discuss the main gist of the story presented here.

Dune is a tale of political intrigue set in a very distant future, and taking place on the planet Anakis, a desert wasteland that is rich in “melange” or “spice”, a resource that acts as a portentous supernatural drug but it’s fought and sought after as it also essential for long distance space travel.

Political games see the Emperor “donate” Anakis to the Atriades clan, after the Harkonnen’s lineage has held and profitted from the melange for centuries, which result in setting off a war that also involves the blue eyed natives of Anakis, called “Fremens”, and the young duke of Atriades, who starts having visions of the future and nurture other supernatural powers…

While this is clearly the beginning of – at least – a trilogy, this is a great start, with amazing visuals, memorable characters played by an all star cast, all fitting a lot in under 3 hours, while not feeling bloated at all, and most importantly, creating an interesting, epic sci-fi universe you wanna see and learn more about.

Pretty good.