i feel like ive said a lot about the new Paul Atreides, and in particular how dang skinny the little guy is, but i really do want to say- for posterityāsĀ sake- that he isĀ the best Paul Iāve seen yet. And why? Well you canāt really address that without going into the other iterations of Paul.
(Also fun little fact: every single one of these actors was 25-26 when they were in these movies!)
1984: Kyle āPerfect Hairā MacLachlan
Kyle MacLachlan did a fairly good version of Paul. He was very cheerful (?) in the beginning in comparison to the others. However, nothing about him ever really struck me as a real person?
It was very, hm, stylistic. Iām not saying itās bad! Iām just saying, they weren't trying to get you to relate to Paul, to feel sympathy for him, to feel anything, to see him as a real person? Or else, I never did. There was like three degrees of separation that really prevented you from relating to him.
He was alsoā¦ kind of generic? He wasnāt terrible. But he wasnāt amazing either. He had a strange quality around him that fit the David Lynch vibe of the movie. It definitely worked for the tone.
2000 Miniseries: Alec āI feel physically ill when I see you- please never look at meā Newman
This is, arguably, the miniseries' greatest weakness. Alec Newman wasnāt hhh he just missed the mark by so so much.
In the beginning he was actually terrible at capturing childishness. Youngness. i know that sounds weird because heās arguably the Paul who acts the most childish. But look, he came off as petulant and whiny and bratty. Children do have nuance. This man didnāt. There was hardly anything likable about him.
When he became the Kwisatz Haderach, he turned into Stoneface McGee, only breaking that facade occasionally to return to that whiny Paul. I couldnāt find it in myself to like him.
Plus, they really just threw him down the drain with the diaper fight and the dumb costumes they shoved him into. There really was no way to come back from that, which is why it really helped save the miniseries that Leto II became the main character.
2021: TimothĆ©e āThe Starving Son Of Edward Sissorhandsā Chalamet
They really surprised me with how well done Paul's character was. Iāll be honest, I had my doubts about TimothĆ©e Chalamet. but Iām very impressed.
He was childish, but not with that petulant overcompensating brattiness of the miniseries. He expressed his struggles and he did complain but not in that wildly spoiled manner of the miniseries? He still pulled himself together, he didnāt linger too much on the hooded moody eyes or the sulking teenager vibe that the first initial photos gave off.
He was even able to pull off some measure of darkness, not that weāve seen much of that yet, and I genuinely felt for him. He wasnāt that strange almost-dreamlike unreal figure of 1984 Paul.
I think watching this movie was the first time I thought, 'wait a minute, this is terrible. this poor guy, look at all thatās happened.' I genuinely felt for himā¦ and he genuinely felt like more than a plot point.
I'm on my third or fourth rewatch of the movie and the more I see, the more I could wax poetic about certain scenes that he does so well on. I think, hands down, without a doubt, this is the best iteration of Paul that we've seen yet.
