Post by berkley on Oct 6, 2020 22:43:55 GMT -5
The best surprise from the casting is how good Jason Momoa looks as Duncan Idaho; not at all the way I imagined him, but his interactions with Paul in those few seconds create the impression of a strong emotional bond, and that's what will make the movie work in the end (meaning whether we can emppathize with these characters and care what happens to them).
And they say "Chah-nee" instead of "Chay-nee". I can die happy.
Yeah, I don't disagree that he looks the right age for the character as written in the book; I just don't like him as an actor and a screen presence, from what I've seen. And I know a lot of people will disagree with this, but I think sometmes you almost have to cast someone a little older for these charismatic parts because it's almost impossible to find someone who looks the right chronological age and can still convey that sense of gravitas the part calls for, the sense that this is someone out of the ordinary, not just your typical teenager.
Not sure about Momoa as Idaho either. In this case I do like the actor, but again, he seems miscast here - too big and muscle-bound, for one thing.
Also in general, I think it's better to cast British or European actors for the kind of aristocratic world Herbert created for Dune. William Hurt is a fine actor but his Leto in the tv series came across more like an Anerican politicia or CEO than a high-ranking aristocrat. Yes, I know, some will argue that CEOs and American senators are today's equivalent of yesterday's aristocracy, but the feel is wrong, to my mind.
I thought the casting was a weak point in Villeneuve's Blade Runner sequel too. I wonder sometimes if it's an unfortunate aspect of modern Hollywood film-making that big-budget spectaculars like this won't get funding and therefore won't ever get made if the director doesn't cast popular actors like Chalamet and Momoa, no matter how ill-suited they may be for the part.
