Villeneuve’s Dune is not an improvement on Lynch’s version. For everything it does better, there’s a roughly equal amount it does worse. Quality-wise, the two pretty much balance out. Though I’ll always revisit Lynch’s film; I doubt I’ll watch Villeneuve’s again, even after Part Two comes out.
What bothers me the most is how many people are hailing it as the definitive Dune adaptation.
I’m sorry, but if there’s one thing the 1984 has over Villeneuve’s is that it fully embraced the book’s inherent weirdness, whereas Villeneuve seems ashamed of it and we’re left with a very bland movie.
I present the Jamis fight as Exhibit A for why the movie fell flat for me. In the source material, Paul sheds tears after killing Jamis. In this movie, he hardly seems phased by it at all.
I’d seen three of Villeneuve’s films beforehand — Maelstrom, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049 — and all three are emotionally and visually gloomy. That style may suit the world of Blade Runner, but I always envisioned the Dune universe as a more vibrant, resonant setting.