In the books iirc he's ancient, checked-out from active power, and basically a passive force to be acted on like the Edo emperor under Tokugawa. Not sure if the comic relief from Walken's cadence was intentional or just translated from pop culture phenomena though and it ended up breaking the gravity of what were otherwise serious scenes. Ones with the Baron and the Emperor in particular ended up being kind of funny and out of place due to the mismatch of screen presences between the characters

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5521608&forum_id=2#47611293)

You could call it a plot contrivance but the entire setting is oriented around plot contrivance

I enjoyed Dune very much as a child but it's more than a little silly even for sci-fi if you start poking at the theater curtain

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5521608&forum_id=2#47611305)

It'd be like the Taliban or Al Qaeda or the Al-Sadr Brigades or whoever the Islamic villain of the week was lightning-raid capturing George W Bush in Baghdad years after Fallujah. Supposed to be unthinkable but iirc the Harkonnens downplayed the reality of the insurgency situation to keep the visage of competency and control to the rest of the imperial political apparatus intact. Haven't read the books in a while though so ymmv

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5521608&forum_id=2#47611335)

, champ

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5521608&forum_id=2#47611302)

That said, I guess he did a decent job.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5521608&forum_id=2#47611303)

It could simply be that Villeneuve is Canadian, French Canadian even, and therefore from a strange and alien land where up is down and left is right and perhaps we do not understand the dreaded "Leaf mentality" he's foisted on us with this acting choice

I've found that, in media, the French and Quebecois take certain tropes and things that we laugh at and find hamminess in in the States with all the seriousness and gravity of a funeral. I have seen a Montreal woman cry with great anguish after the credits rolled on a screwball comedy; little about these people makes sense

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5521608&forum_id=2#47611315)

https://ew.com/christopher-walken-dune-fatboy-slim-video-weapon-of-choice-connection-8606852

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5521608&forum_id=2#47611311)

I have severe mental illness (I don't) and rarely see films at release to avoid being colored by audience reaction but regardless it was an excellent if unfortunately condensed film and the best to hit the theaters in the last couple of years

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5521608&forum_id=2#47611364)

Shout out to the Zardoz inspired Harkonnen ships spewing rockets from their mouth ports revealed shortly after this, really just everything to do with the Harkonnen stuff was clearly a project of great forethought and love for the subject matter. 10/10 for this guy (Canadian) just wish he had spent the same amount of time fleshing out the Atriedes aesthetic in the first film for thematic harmony's sake. Star Wars again but George Lucas did a better job at this and the comparisons have to be made because this is the closest thing Zoomers/GA will get to a good vs evil space opera epic in their formative years

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5521608&forum_id=2#47611416)

https://youtu.be/vcaPiiFZu2o?si=eM6f-Qs-fy3jasCg

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5521608&forum_id=2#47611441)

It was an excellent film and I can't say he was a bad choice at all because he had the grim and aged stony face for the part

Just a curious thing

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5521608&forum_id=2#47611448)