Trevor Taylor

This is an other-wise outstanding movie that's ruined by its need for a sequel, among other things. My biggest problem with the film is it's writing. There are obnoxious references to the original exorcist film that feel out of place, We never get to explore the mom characters experience of everything happening in the movie, the family element that is so critical to the main inhabited child is completely missing from the film. We really only get the exorcist and the extra priests side of the story which is such a huge miss. Furthermore, there is a critical error in the film on behalf of the director and the DP, There's a continuity error transitioning from above ground to below ground ~20 minutes in. Basic filmmaking stuff. All of this and more make for what could have been a great movie made only a good movie, particularly the aggressively suggested need for a sequel which was not necessary and totally undercut the film. While it's still better than probably 80% of movies out there, there's a great deal of room for improvement

Am I happy to get a Dune movie that's significantly better than the 1984 version? Yes. Do I love the casting for the new Dune movie? Yes. Am I happy to get a new Dune movie at all? Yes. Was it a good movie? No. The pacing is so slow it felt like it was 5 hours long (it's 2.5 hours). There are some outstanding scenes in the movie that make it "worth" it, but the writing overall is very flat, very bland, and the film lacks real depth. While character designs are great, the set design is terrible - looks very much like the whole movie was done on a sound stage with 5 props. Would not recommend personally, but if you're a Dune fan it's a must-see, if only to wash the memory of 1984 out of your brain.