Review: THE BATMAN

 

    I enjoyed Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice better than The Batman, a brand new entry to the pantheon of Batman that stars Robert Pattinson as Batman and is directed by and co-written by Matt Reeves, of Cloverfield and two Planet of the Apes reboots fame. Admitting that Batman vs. Superman, the globally loathed Ben Affleck as Batman picture, is better is probably saying something about the new picture. It also says a lot about DC versus Marvel movies. Whereas the Marvel movies exist in a thriving, sustainable, cohesive universe that continues on a somewhat set, continuous path, the DC movies seem to stutter start and stop and re-emerge every few years like a phoenix. Ben Affleck was the new Batman in Batman vs. Superman and also had a bit part in Justice League, but for whatever reason, Affleck's solo Batman movie never got made. It was supposedly more of a James Bond, Batman as a spy type of a picture, which Reeves, when being named director, wanted no part of. Hence Affleck leaving, Pattinson showing up, and this new film with a new Batman arriving. And now that Pattinson said he's not playing Batman again, DC will have to start anew, again. Why is DC failing where Marvel has soared?

    Batman of course is comic book's best character. His comic book has the best villains and best location. You would think it wouldn't be very hard to make a fantastic movie out of it. But what are you looking for? A great film or just a dumb, fun, popcorn flick? Marvel decided to go the popcorn route and thus ended up making billions. None of the Marvel films are great movies, but at least they entertain in a fun way. The new Batman movie is kind of the opposite of, say, Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor: Ragnorak, which were colorful and smile inducing. The Batman is dark, sour, sullen, rain swept, and gritty. And at 3 hours long, it's often a slog. The main villain is a take on the Zodiac killer. Robert Pattinson broods like a mascara wearing lead singer of a 90's emo band. The plot involves death, fatherless children, funerals, drug addicts, corruption, murder, and the mob. Enjoy going to the theater on a Friday night and having a great time out with that slab of melancholy.

    The basic plot in The Batman is that this is year two of Bruce Wayne being Batman. Everything kicks off with The Riddler killing a man running for mayor in Gotham City. One of the first shots in the film, featuring the first shot of The Riddler, is a fantastic, well shot piece of filmmaking. The politician, talking on the phone, walks to his right and we suddenly see a dark figure standing in the shadows behind him. Menacing, creepy, and very cool, this is only one of the great looking shots in the film. Dune cinematographer Greig Fraser was the DP on The Batman, and he's a master. I'm still baffled at how he didn't win the Oscar for his work filming Foxcatcher, although he did pick up an Oscar for Dune. Fraser also seems to love shooting closely from behind; behind someone's head as they walk, behind a person on a motorcylce as it races, behind a car as it barrels down a dark highway. At 3 hours, there better be some fantastic shots in the movie, and there are, and it's one of the ways the movie does stand out from a typical, been-there-done-that flick. The other engrossing aspect of the film is the score. While everyone is harking on the fact that there's a Nirvana song in the film, the score is actually the thing everyone should be talking about. It's no Danny Elfman Batman score, but it's still fantastic and really gives the film a beating heart when it needs it. 

    The Riddler is killing famous, corrupt people in Gotham, which is the basic premise, and, unfortunately, it never really amounts to much of interest in the end. The Penguin also shows up, in a fairly superfluous part, although Collin Farrel has a good time hamming it up in a fat suit. Catwoman is in this, too, and Zoe Kravitz basically steals the whole movie. She's fantastic as always. Pattinson, though, is totally forgettable, which is a surprise, because he's been knocking it out of the park left and right on the art house scene in films like The Lighthouse and Good Time. 

    While there are some great shots, and some action sequences that are engaging, like the car chase scene, the big problem is that the script isn't all that great. The Riddler as a Zodiac-esque killer is an interesting idea, but ultimately by the end that fails when we never get a great climax with him versus Batman. The big finale, which, disappointingly, involves a mass shooting incident, is kind of something you would see in a Batman comic book (a villain attempting to flood the city), but in this movie, which seems to be attempting to do what Nolan did (make Batman more realistic and less like a comic book), doesn't mesh with the rest of the picture. 

    The Batman is certainly really good in parts, but mostly hit-or-miss and ultimately not exactly a classic or memorable entry in the canon. With such a great character, a great menagerie of villains, and a movie setting to die for, we really deserve something much better than this. **1/2

THE TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF 2022

1- THE BATMAN: It's kind of strange that the last Batman film came out in 2010. I suppose you could argue that it was Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, but even that came out 6 years ago. What the fuck, dude? Batman movies are cash cows. They should be cranking them out every year if they were smart. Well this is an all new one with a new cast and director. The vampire from Twilight is Batman and the director of the last two Planet of the Apes films is on board. The trailers make this look more like a dark Christopher Nolan Batman film, which is a good thing. The one problem is that this is apparently going to feature The Penguin, Catwoman, and The Riddler. Jesus. What, is this four hours long?

2- AVATAR 2: Yes, Avatar 2 is coming out this year, a quick 13 years after the original. The first one came out so long ago I don't even remember if I liked it. I do remember that it made a lot of money mostly because it was in 3-D and everyone had to go to the movies to see the new, cool 3-D technology that everyone was talking about. I'd rather go see True Lies 2 but oh, well. One half of The Flight of the Chonchords is in this so that'll be interesting. This time the film takes place underwater. After so long, I'm just curious why it took 13 years to make this.

3- JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION: I suppose they can't just keep remaking the original film, although they probably should, as Jurassic Park and Jurassic World are the two best of the series and literally have the same plot. This time the dinosaurs are loose in the real world. I'm not entirely sure how this is a movie, though. Like...do people just live their day to day lives but dinosaurs are around? Or are people all cowering in basements full time? Either way, you can't go wrong with a Jurassic Park flick. 

4- FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE: Yes, we'd all rather be seeing more Harry Potter films, but unfortunately this is all we've got. I adored the first Fantastic Beasts films and didn't enjoy the second so who the fuck knows if this one'll be any good? The trailer makes it look...fantastic. They also replaced wife beater Johnny Depp with Mads Mikelson, which is a win win, although I wonder if they're going to explain why he suddenly looks different. 

5- THOR: LOVE & THUNDER: Taiki Waititi is back co-writing and directing this, which is basically the Thor film where a woman, Natalie Portman, becomes Thor. If it's half as entertaining as Waititi's last Thor, this'll be a blast. 

6- KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: This probably won't come out this year, but who knows? It's Martin Scorsese directing and Leonardo DiCaprio starring and it's going straight to Apple+. It's based on a book that was based on a true story of a series of Native American murders in the early 20th century. 

7- ASTEROID CITY: This is Wes Anderson's latest, supposedly shot in Spain and starring the usuals along with Tom Hanks and Margot Robbie. While Wes Anderson was at one point my favorite director, his last film, The French Dispatch, was lousy. Hopefully he'll redeem himself.

8- CANTERBURY GLASS: Three Kings will always be David O. Russell's best film, but one can still hope that he has another great one in him. It's strange, but with Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle back to back in 2012-2013, Russell was like the biggest stud in Hollywood. He hasn't made a movie since 2015's Joy. What the hell has he been doing in 7 years? Seriously...what? Either way, he's back with a film that takes place in the early 20th century and it stars Anya-Taylor Joy, Margot Robbie, and Christian Bale. Unfortunately, plot details are under wraps. Let's also hope this is just a working title.

9- BABYLON: I really enjoyed Whiplash and First Man but I didn't like La La Land. That's kind of odd because I love musicals. Damian Chazelle's latest also takes place in the early 20th century. It stars Brad Pitt. Fuck. Give it all the Oscars, already. It's supposedly about Hollywood changing from the silent era to sound. Sounds thrilling! 

10- SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (PART ONE): I loved the first one of these, the computer animated adventures of Miles Morales. You can tell that superhero movies are king these days as there are like a thousand coming out this year. Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Black Panther 2, Aquaman 2, Black Adam (starring The Rock), The Flash, also Thor 4, which I mentioned earlier. It says a lot, though, about the quality of these superhero movies when I'm more exciting to see a computer animated one about the B-Spider-Man than most of the others.

THE TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF 2021 REVISITED

1- UNTITLED PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON FILM: While this got good reviews, it was unfortunately titled Licorice Pizza, one of, if not the, worst titles in movie history. While I "get" why they called the movie that, it's just awful. And while this film did, in fact, come out in 2021, I haven't seen it yet.

2- UNTITLED SPIDER-MAN SEQUEL: I haven't seen this movie yet, either, even though it did come out in 2021 and is already the 6th highest grossing movie of all time. And since I'm harking about bad titles, what's the deal with the title of this movie being so fucking close to the last one? The last one was Spider-Man: Far From Home and this one is Spider-Man: No Way Home. I mean...this is the 8th Spider-Man movie in the last 20 years so creativity isn't exactly a part of this niche.

3- MONA LISA AND THE BLOOD MOON: This movie played at the Venice Film Festival in September and got great reviews but then disappeared completely. I wonder if the director ever started that all-female Cliffhanger re-boot we were promised as well. 

4- THE SUICIDE SQUAD: Wow, the first film on this list that I actually saw. It probably helped that thanks to the pandemic and HBO starting their own streaming service to rival Netflix, this movie went straight to TV in August. While this film is entertaining, it's not as good as James Gunn's two Guardians of the Galaxy films. It's also inferior to the Peacemaker TV show that just came out on HBO Max that Gunn wrote and directed and which spins out of this film. The one huge problem I had with this film is some of the violent shooting sequences that are played for joy and entertainment and laughs. And people wonder where mass shootings come from. **1/2 (out of ****)

5- THE MATRIX 4: This also went straight to HBO Max. It's also terrible, an unwatchable, uncreative mess. I was never even a big fan of the original Matrix film, but that looks like The Wizard of Oz compared to this sad sack excuse of a film. 1/2*

6- NIGHTMARE ALLEY: This I didn't see, though I did watch the original which, shockingly, isn't a very good film. Usually when you remake a movie it's because the original was, like, actually good. Baffling, really. I suppose it's not a surprise then that this was one of the year's biggest box office duds.

7- THE NORTHMAN: I just watched the trailer for this and it looks amazing. Unfortunately it's not coming out until March 2022.

8- DECISION TO LEAVE: This never came out. It was made but the release date is up in the air.

9- THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH: This came out on Apple+ a few weeks after being released in theaters. It's a total bore. It probably doesn't help that it's in black and white with spare sets and mostly green screen backdrops. Kenneth Branagh knew that Shakespeare on film needed lavish sets and colorful costumes and huge backdrops. Frances McDormand is good in this but Denzel Washington is not. I suppose Ethan Coen was the genius of the two. *

10- MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7: This never came out, which is kind of shocking considering they were filming this in the summer of 2020. 

THE BEST FILMS OF 2021

1- DUNE

2- LICORICE PIZZA

3- CUSP

4- WOODSTOCK '99: PEACE, LOVE & RAGE

5- CRUELLA

6- ZACK SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE

7- FEAR STREET PART 1: 1994

8- ARMY OF THE DEAD

9- SPENCER

10- THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Review: NO TIME TO DIE

     

   

    Director Danny Boyle and writer John Hodge worked together to create some very memorable 90's films; Trainspotting, obviously, but also Shallow Grave, The Beach, and A Life Less Ordinary. The duo was set to make the next James Bond film until creative differences entered the picture and they left the film. While it would be interesting to have seen what their vision for James Bond was, it would have been a hell of a lot more interesting if they had been chosen to make a James Bond film back in the late 90's when their creative juices were at their peak. Can you imagine how weird, cool, bizarre, fun, and wild that would have been? Maybe it would have been a mess, but sadly we'll never know. But the heirs to the James Bond franchise would have at least made a bold choice and tried something new. And that's the huge problem these days with the James Bond films. They're all the fucking same. When the opening credit title sequence starts in the new James Bond film, No Time to Die, I groaned. 'This again?' I thought, as Billie Eilish's boring song played over a typical, been-there-done-that title sequence featuring guns shooting, silhouettes, people falling. These credit sequences are basically a joke these days. At least in the good old days when James Bond movies were fun it didn't bother anyone that they were all the same...but now that they're dour and serious and visually pristine instead of down and dirty, these films have become stagnant and unwelcome. What happened? How do we fix this? Why is this even still a thing?

    Your personal favorite James Bond memories are probably something to do with Sean Connery fucking a blonde, killing someone then delivering a wry joke, or saving the day to worldwide cheers. My personal favorite James Bond memories always involve Roger Moore, because those films were awful and stupid but super amusing and entertaining in a total camp sort of way. It's actually really shocking that the fun loving James Bond films of the 60's and 70's have morphed into what occurs at the end of No Time to Die; a super serious, supposed emotional warhorse of a finale. Dude, we just want to see James Bond save the day and get the girl. Why are they attempting to make these, like, real Oscar-worthy affairs? They're dumb spy movies. 

    When Daniel Craig appeared in the franchise it was a welcome surprise. Casino Royale was fantastic. Quantum of Solace was also fantastic but everyone hated it. Then Sam Mendes made two totally forgettable Bond films: Spectre and Skyfall. Even the producers probably realized they needed to do something different by attempting to get Danny Boyle on board. That failed, although they did bring in Fleabag writer Phoebe Waller Bridges to punch up the script. I'm fairly sure the, "Another child?" joke is hers, as she's a fantastic writer and that's the best line in the film. While the rest of the script for No Time to Die is same-old, they did at least score Cary Joji Fukunaga to direct. He is, without a doubt, one of the best directors working today. I'm still a little mad we never got to see his Stephen King It adaptation that took place in a metropolis. Fukunaga directed the excellent first season of True Detective along with the excellent Netflix series, Maniac. The one good thing about No Time to Die is that visually it looks exceptional. There are so many cool, precise, compelling shots in this film; from the stealth army guys repelling down a building at dusk in London, to the fog filled Norway forest, to the power lines sparking and exploding along a dark Cuban street. The film looks great. And while the story here is the usual, villain-wants-to-kill-the-world bullshit we've seen before, the actors are all top notch. Daniel Craig acts like he's tired of doing this, which he admitted to, but Lea Seydoux is excellent, especially considering she has to act like she's madly in love with a man as old as her father. Mr. Robot, Rami Malek, is at least creepy, but considering he's the big bad it's a shame he doesn't get much to do and is barely in it. The big deal in this film that the woke mob probably has nightmares about is that James Bond has retired and the new 007 is a black woman played by Lashana Lynch. She's forgettable, though Jeffrey Wright and Ana De Armas are great as Bond compadres. 

    Since the Roger Moore comedy gold is long gone, lately the films have been known for their action sequences. Unfortunately, for a 2 hour and 45 minute movie, there's not a lot of action in this. The opening car chase in a mountainside, Italian town is great...and that's about it. The other action scenes are just random, run-and-gun melees. The first hour of No Time to Die is actually excellent...and then it never really heats up into anything remotely engaging. The huge problem, besides the hour-too-long length, is the atrocious ending. The set up is there. It's as if a pitcher decided to throw a softball to the batter in the bottom of the 9th. The homerun is there for the taking! We've got a villain on his evil island and Bond is going to go after him. How could this ending not be incredible? Well, it is. The ending isn't just underwhelming, it's about as sad as Schindler's List. They do know we've bought our ticket and popcorn to see girls, guns, quips, and action, right? Do we want to leave the theater weeping into a tissue and contemplating our life choices? Who's genius idea was it to end the film like this? 

    If you're going to just keep making Bond films until the end of time, then fine, do it, but at least make it a fun, enjoyable ride that makes us revel in our happy days of watching gems like The Spy Who Loved Me for the first time. **1/2

Review: DEAR EVAN HANSEN

  

   There aren't many original hit Broadway musicals these days, are there? It seems like the majority of musicals on Broadway that are certified hits are those old-school shows from long ago like Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, and South Pacific. I could go on...forever. This year the biggest musical coming out is a new version of The Music Man starring Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman. It's not that Broadway doesn't have new ideas, it's just that a known entity already has a place in some people's heads so they at least aren't wary of buying a ticket to the unknown. And while Hamilton was the last smash Broadway hit, it wasn't exactly an original story or anything. The Book of Mormon was probably the last hit Broadway musical not based on a book or film or story or real life character. They're rare; a new, fresh, original musical that not only makes it to Broadway but becomes a hit. Dear Evan Hansen was just that. It premiered on Broadway in 2016 and is still running. It won multiple Tony awards. Ben Platt became a star. And now it's a movie...that's getting ripped to shreds by movie critics and the Twitter schadenfreude maelstrom. 

    Dear Evan Hansen has to be the darkest hit Broadway musical since at least Sweeney Todd, a musical about a serial killer. Dear Evan Hansen has some humor in it and at least one fun, light, danceable song...but it's such a dark and depressing story that I'm shocked it became a popular, hit musical. The basic story is that the main character, Evan Hansen, is a depressed, suicidal teen with no friends, a missing father, and a mom that's never around. Cue the showtunes! When a student at his school commits suicide, Evan Hansen ends up somehow tricking everyone into thinking he was the dead kid's only friend, which leads him into spending time with the dead kid's family, being noticed at school finally in a good way, and kissing a girl for the first time. Suddenly his life is fantastic, except it's an elaborate lie that will probably come crashing down someday. Suicide. Depression. Teenage angst. Lies. Trickery. Family problems. Holy shit, how is this a hit Broadway musical? How are there even songs about all of this? How did this even get greenlit? 

    The funny thing in all of this is that the main gripe the critics have for the film version has nothing to do with the plot, story, or songs. Nope. All the critics care about is Benn Platt's hair and his age. Weird that they're not concerned that there's song and dance numbers in a film about suicide and depression. They only care about Benn Platt's hair. Is his hair that big a problem? It's a curly mop, probably grown to hide his receding hairline since he's 27 years old and is supposed to play a High School senior. And is a 27 year old playing a High School kid that much of a problem? It's certainly not great, though it doesn't ruin the film. I'm wondering...have these critics never seen High School movies like Grease or Dazed & Confused where everyone looks like they're 30 years old? Sure, Benn Platt looks like an old man playing a teen, but what's the alternative? Platt supposedly gave a powerhouse performance on Broadway and won a Tony for his role. He even admitted that the movie probably wouldn't have gotten made if he wasn't the star (his dad was also a producer, probably one of the reasons). It's a catch-22. Do you give Platt, who made the role famous & is obviously great at it, the role? Or do you give it to a true High School age kid that looks age appropriate but a) the movie probably isn't going to make any money and b) the actor probably won't do as good a job as Platt. The studio went with Platt and now the critics have their knives out. I wonder...did he look that old on Broadway (he was 23 when the show started)? Or are Broadway critics different than film critics? 

    For whatever it's worth, I never saw the Broadway version but I did enjoy the film. Granted, I love musicals, and the music is good in this. There is only one stand-out hit, the song when Evan and his psuedo-friend are crafting fake emails between him and the dead kid to show the dead kid's parents. "He smoked crack." "Crack?" I dyed laughing at that bit. And what am I doing...laughing during a movie about depression and suicide? It's certainly a strange mix of a film. The other songs are mostly quiet emotional tunes but they're all very well done. And the story, which, let's face it, is definitely original but definitely bizarre, is very engrossing. The only problem with the story I had is that the ending is obviously going to be a downer, and thus it kind of peters out instead of ends with any kind of emotional catharsis or wise moral victory. Since Evan Hansen is suicidal, depressed, and has no friends but suddenly becomes a star and a stud when he lies...what are we supposed to get out of this? Don't like? Why not? He lied and scored the hottie. He tricked the world and suddenly everyone smiled and said "hi" to him in the school hallways. There is no moral to the story then, right? Or is the underlying theme that anyone popular, rich, and successful is just a liar and fraud and not truly themselves? Is there something about the way we create a false narrative about ourselves through social media woven throughout this? I suppose you could write a book about what's going on in this film, which is a good thing. Most Broadway musicals are just forgettable, colorful fluff. This one is strange, dark, and hard to put your finger on. 

    The acting by Benn Platt, Julianne Moore, and Kaitlyn Dever is great. The direction by Steven Chbosky is top-notch; the film looks fantastic. The musical numbers work, the songs are good. The story is compelling. You can rag on the fact that the High School kid looks like a forty year old man all you want, but this is a good, unique, and interesting movie regardless. ***

     

Review: DUNE

 

    About a year and a half ago, the first trailer for Denis Villeneuve's Dune came out. A good movie made out of that classic sci-fi book is like the white whale of cinema, so the excellent first trailer got me excited enough to not only finally read the book (it's good, not great) but also watch the David Lynch version (it's a silly, unwatchable mess). The first book came out in the 60's, so it's kind of sad that it took until 2021 for a decent filmed version to come out. One of the reasons why Dune has always depressed film buffs is not only because the Lynch version was a disaster but also because of Alejandro Jodorowsky's never filmed version. His version is so infamous someone even made a documentary about it. It was supposed to have music by Pink Floyd and star Orson Welles and Mick Jagger. What people don't realize, however, is that Jodorowsky's Dune would have been fucking terrible. Jodorowsky has admitted to never reading the book, which is one problem. The other? His movies are awful! 

    Denis Villeneuve, however, has actually made some good movies like Sicario, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049. Villeneuve also made the smart decision to cut the book in half into two films. And while Blade Runner 2049 was gorgeous, the reason it never achieved greatness was because it was all cool visuals with a lame story. Dune, however, is actually a really good story. So...could it happen? Would it happen? Would someone actually make a good movie out of Dune? It didn't help that the film was postponed an entire year thanks to the pandemic. And it certainly is quite cruel that it's been released in 18 countries before coming out in the U.S. next month. 

    The book was first published in August of 1965. I can officially say that it's September 2021 and finally a worthy film version has arrived. Denis Villeneuve's Dune is phenomenal. It's everything you want to see in a film. I'm so shocked that it's actually good. The one reason the David Lynch version was so terrible was because it was silly. And probably the one reason why Denis Villeneuve's version is so great is because it's not silly. And I'm guessing, unlike Jodorowsky, Villeneuve probably actually read the book.

    The basic story is that the Atriedes family is powerful and runs a whole planet. They're assigned to go and take over a desert planet, Arrakis. The problem? Arrakis is a "death trap." But Arrakis has spice, which helps power spaceships going long distances across the galaxy. Arrakis is, quite basically, Tatooine from Star Wars (one of George Lucas' many rip-offs in that film). Arrakis has giant sandworms. It also has thousands of mysterious desert people. So the Atriedes family go to Arrakis. The problem? The Harkonnen run Arrakis, and they're not too happy about being kicked out. While all of this is going on, Paul Atriedes, played by Timothy Chalamet, in his best performance yet, is having strange dreams about a girl and about his destinty in the world. He also happens to be learning a powerful force not unlike The Force in Star Wars. But unlike a film like Star Wars, Dune isn't a crowd-loving popcorn type of a film. In fact, I'm guessing the majority of Marvel superhero movie fans won't like this Dune. This is definitely more arthouse than blockbuster. There are no elaborate action sequences. There are no humorous sidekicks. There are no jokes. This is art. It's serious. It's gorgeous. Hell, even the Hans Zimmer score is beautiful. This is all probably one of the main reasons why Dune was never a big, Hollywood franchise like Jurassic Park or The Avengers. I can't even fathom how this got made. The scope of this film is vast. While most of it is CGI, it's all still epic and grand. The spaceships are the size of skyscrapers. The sets are Cleopatra-like. There are armies of thousands. And all of this is serious, poetic, and dream-like. Shockingly, everything works. The film is fantastic in almost every aspect. It has the feel of high drama, of watching a great, big, old-school Hollywood epic with a cast of thousands and a budget unheard of. The kind of thing you start watching and you feel goosebumps. It definitely goes beyond mere cinema into something else, something rare. You just don't see films this big that are this good very often, if ever.

    While the acting is all top-notch, from Oscar Isaac as Paul's Father, to Batista and Stellan Skarsgard as the evil Harkonnens, to Josh Brolin and Jason Mamoa as Atrides soldiers, the real reason this film is so good is because of how it looks. The thing is quite the sight to see. Everything is larger than life, but it's the details that make it stand out. That one beautiful, eerily creepy shot of the soldiers in white quietly descending down to the ground. The ripple of sand when a worm is approaching, and the way the earth starts to give way. That beautiful shot of Chalamet holding onto Josh Brolin at the edge of the spaceship as they look down at a sandworm devouring a harvester. I could literally just look at pictures from this movie and be impressed. But the story it tells works as well, as you become transfixed in this world, this journey. And it certainly helps that the films only covers the best part of the book, which is only about the first 1/3rd of it. But the final scene, with the soldiers marching across the desert to a future unknown, doesn't make you angry that the film is continued. No, it makes you dying to see the next part. And that's about as good as it gets. And this film is just about as good as it gets. It's been a long time, but we've finally gotten a great Dune film. ****