Movie Review: Dune: Part Two

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Continuing where the first “Dune” left off, the sequel once again delivers more of what was great about the first film, along with more of what didn’t work, and that includes more of just “more” as the three-hour runtime starts to feel like an eternity. Like the first film, this one looks amazing. The cinematography masterfully shows the scope of all the ships and creatures while the special effects flawlessly bring everything to life that’s not really there. The score and sound effects compliment all the visuals perfectly. Plot-wise, things feel surprisingly rushed considering how long the film is. There’s a lot of political maneuvering that is set up and most of it doesn’t lead to any kind of satisfying payoff. It feels like it’s going to be some “Game of Thrones”-level political chess, but it just fast-forwards through most of it. There’s also an “Avatar” vibe going on as Paul must earn the respects of the planet’s natives by learning their customs. This also feels a bit rushed as he earns their trust and respect pretty quickly. (This story also contains that element of a character fulfilling some sort of native prophecy.) Ultimately, this film would’ve worked better having an hour cutoff of the runtime, especially with how much time is set setting things up only to end things somewhat rushed and anti-climatically.

*** out of *****

Movie Review: Madame Web

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Even with coming into this movie with low expectations, I still found myself bored, confused and a little insulted by Sony’s latest attempt to mine their Spider-Man movie franchise for all its worth. There isn’t much to the plot outside of what the trailers show. There’s a bit of a slow start and then things pick up for a little while before stalling out for some oddly timed backstory/exposition stuff and then a lame final action sequence. The action falls flat across the board, and none of the characters have much charisma on their own nor any chemistry with each other. There’s also a ton of plot holes that drain the story of any real cohesion. The concept of what is basically an evil Spider-Man being the antagonist had potential, but it’s rarely properly used. (Not to mention Cassie’s powers are vaguely defined, and they go from something out “Final Destination” to a nonsensical new level by the end.) The final nail in the coffin is all the Spider-Man references shoe-horned into the film that literally had me rolling my eyes at times.

*1/2 out of *****