Oh, I totally agree. (The austere grandeur also reminds me of Christopher Nolan's work, too). I just think in Dune he's reusing a good amount of his past visual

Oh, I totally agree. (The austere grandeur also reminds me of Christopher Nolan's work, too). I just think in Dune he's reusing a good amount of his past visual language. Some of the ships look a lot like the Heptapod vessels from Arrival. The part when Arrakeen is on fire reminded me of the fighting in Sicario after the Juarez mob boss is arrested. Wish he had invented more novel elements, and again, more varied use of color. Your points about the giant Joi hologram in 2049 are valid. I wish he had done just a bit more of that. (That scene, with its neon blues and purples, was also distinct from the usually grey Prometheus palette that Dune dipped into too much imo.) Personally I felt a lot of the desert scenes looked a little artificial, maybe it was the color grading or lack of scale. The best desert scene imo is the second sandworm encounter where the rock mouse establishes the scale.