Bret Schneider

Unimaginative pseudo-sociological critique. Instead of the moving power of myth (as in the book & Lynch movie), we get lame 21st century morality about power corrupting, as if written by an adolescent in an HR dept. HR also wrote the uninspiring anti-love story of Paul & Chani. The Harkkonens lack the corporeal vulgarity of the original (& also the gayness, because, one suspects, you can't have homosexual villains in woke culture). Instead they are austere & boring, & the director's black & white camera filter is both lazy & pretentious. There's nothing about the mysterious relationship of the worms & spice, a driving theme in earlier stories, let alone imaginative cosmological scenes of worms, who are instead treated as mere military machines, reflecting the dull militaristic austerity of the movie. The worms are perhaps more the central motive in the book & Lynch movie, but they're not even considered here. The soundtrack is also unmemorable in this lame allegory. I gave it a star for the princesses headdresses & cool stenographic machines.