Dune

[Buster's Uncle]

Hmmm.  What about, instead of space Islam, Dune w/ the Fremen are space Mormons?

[Ordnael]

My perception of Mormons is that they are orderly peaceful folks. I just finished rewatching the end of part1 Dune miniseries last night to be reminded again just how fanatical and unruly the Fremen are...beyond even radical extremes of Islam, they were attempting/challenging on Paul's life even as they express their fervour for their mah'di. They remind me of the Terran empire from ST mirror universe.

[Elok]

I felt like the first part of Villaneuve Dune was perfectly serviceable, downright good in parts.  About as good as a Dune adaptation could be in today's movie industry, with certain parts deliberately sanded off (not that I miss the Baron being a pederast, but the Fremen are somewhat generic now).  The second part ... eugghhh.  Kinda butchers the plot.  The religion angle loses all subtlety, and only some of the Fremen actually believe in Paul, specifically the dumb fanatics.  Chani is a skeptic because Hollywood cannot fathom a sympathetic but devoutly religious character.  Can't even be mistaken in your beliefs but still likeable.  Bardem's compelling performance from the first part gets flattened into a sweaty illogical moron.

Also, Chalomet is not particularly good as Paul; as my wife notes, the kid has a very obvious cell-phone slouch, and he's playing someone with perfect kinesthetic control training.  Hard to buy him as a physical fighter, either.  Zendaya is ... Zendaya.  I don't get the appeal, but she doesn't bug me either.  She's just a kind of boring actress.

On the plus side, the black-and-white Giedi Prime is cool.