This is the first movie I’ve seen in theatres since February of 2020, which felt odd. During the pandemic, we’ve built a home theatre, and I know our 4K OLED screen looks better, and I’m pretty certain our surround system sounds better too. So why go to the movies any more, apart from the literal size of the screen? The “community” aspect of film going is garbage; the people beside me wouldn’t stop talking, and everybody insisted on loudly nursing their popcorn so they didn’t have to wear a mask. At least in my house, people don’t go “What did they say?” every three seconds while stuffing their face wth candy.
I think I’m also grumpy about it because it’s so darn loud at the movies. I don’t mean to sound like an old man, but I checked my Apple Watch after the movie, and it was recording nearly 100db for two and a half hours straight. That’s loud enough to permanently damage your ears. Not sure if that’s a decision they made in the sound mix of Dune, or if it was just my theatre’s choice, but that’s way. Too. Loud.
So how was the movie itself? Good, I think. It was hard to focus on it because I was in literal pain from the volume, and incredibly annoyed by the people to my left who kept talking, and the people in front of me who kept glancing at their phones.
The film is certainly gorgeous. Zimmer’s score was boring. I did not think it was slow. I did think it was long. It felt like a very lengthy prologue to an actual story — “just the beginning,” as it were.
I overheard somebody say “This should have been a Netflix series,” when the film ended. That’s a sad state of affairs for cinema. Big space epics like this belong in the film format, where studios can spend millions of dollars per minute and end up turning a profit.
It was also really nice to see a sci-fi film for adults, which is no surprise considering DV’s recent output. But still really nice.
Tentatively giving it 3 stars for now. Will have to re-watch it in my own home theatre, once it’s available, to properly focus on the film.
(Also, Cineplex has destroyed movie theatres in Canada, and I will never forgive them for creating, enabling, and encouraging all this crap in this country. This is what happens when your movie theatres belong to a monopoly run by people who don’t like movies.)