10 Terrible Scenes From Awesome Recent Movies
6. Christopher Walken's Emperor - Dune: Part Two
Dune: Part Two is one of the best films of the year, which makes it tough to admit that Denis Villeneuve made one huge mistake - his aggressive miscasting of Christopher Walken as the villainous Emperor Shaddam IV.
It was certainly an interesting choice on paper, but Walken's performance as the Emperor ultimately turned out to be the movie's most polarising moment, with many feeling he failed to convey the heft of the iconic antagonist, some even going far enough to proclaim that he sleepwalked his way through the role.
Now in fairness to Walken, it's arguable that the Emperor isn't really supposed to live up to the statuesque hype, but all the same, there's a staggering lack of energy to the actor's work here, and the fact he's straight-up talking with his distinctive Queens twang doesn't much help either.
As intriguing as Walken's casting was pre-release, ultimately he's more of a distraction than a credit to the production, and Villeneuve would've probably been better off casting an actor who's less of a meme-magnet and could bring more pep to the part.