DUNE (2021) - Review

 

I am trying to temper my enthusiasm when talking about Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's seminal sci-fi epic Dune, because while it is probably one of the coolest films I've seen all year - at make no mistake, IMAX is the best way to view this film - there are a couple of minor issues with this that I don't want to overlook when talking about it. 

On the other hand...boy, this was a great movie!

Let's just jump right into it with story, but this is gonna be kind of hard to summarize: It's 10,000 years into the future, and mankind has spread out amongst the stars and set up home on different planets, ruled by different royal families (think Game of Thrones, but in space). The Emperor of this system has awarded control of a planet called Arrakis (also called Dune, hence the title) to the Atreides family. Arrakis is a valuable planet because it is rich in a spice known as melange, which not only makes interstellar travel possible, but also gives you the ability to see the future. So, the Atreides - made up of heir Paul (Timothee Chalamet), the Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), the Mentat Thufir Hawat (Stephen McKinely Henderson), master-at-arms Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), and swordmaster Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa) - move to Arrakis, unaware that they are walking right into the trap set up by House Harkonnen - led by the vile Baron Vladimir (Stellan Skarsgaard) - who previously had control over the planet and are none too pleased about losing it to House Atreides. 

Now, that's just a bare bones description of this film's plot; there was a lot that I had to leave out for brevity's sake. Dune is one of the most famously dense science fiction stories in the genre's history, replete with mysticism, worldbuilding, ecology, religion, political intrigue, history, you name it (side note: the book goes into so much depth on all of these topics that it's easy for one to lose the plot of the story, which is why I don't find myself rereading it too often). And the film tries with mixed results to integrate these elements, but it can only do so much seeing as it's only covering the first half of the book. Speaking of which, putting Part 1 at the beginning of a film usually isn't a very good idea because it already lets the audience know that they're essentially watching an incomplete story, which wouldn't be too much of a problem if the ending didn't feel so...off. I mean, don't get me wrong, they picked a good spot to end it, but it also feels like they introduced a lot of elements and characters that felt like they were gonna be really important in this film, but were just dropped because of where they ended the story. I mean, I know where they're going with these things because I read the book, but I don't know how people who didn't read the book are gonna react to it. 

Having said all that, this movie is still one of the year's best cinematic experiences! I mean, everything, from Villeneuve's directing to Greig Fraser's (The Mandalorian) high-contrast, rich cinematography to Hans Zimmer's score (which does at times feel like leftover stuff from Gladiator, but with more bagpipes) to the acting from everyone including Chalamet, Isaac, Ferguson, etc., is done to perfection. This whole film feels like a true artistic expression; you can see it from the long establishing shots of Arrakis to the almost indie-like inserts of various landscapes, water, bugs and creatures as they skitter across the planet. And the vision scenes, while long and repetitive at times, feel like Villeneuve and his crew are covering some unfinished business from Arrival, but even more psychedelic and artsy. And the color grading is really top notch here, making use of the harsh yellows and tans of the planet Arrakis, the lush, life-filled greens and blues of the Atreides planet Caladan, and the cold dark blue and blacks of the Harkonnen home-planet Geidi Prime. 

And this is what I mean by a cinematic experience. While you can definitely get a similar experience watching this at home on HBO Max, in my opinion, the best way to view this film is on the biggest screen you can with the best sound system possible...if you feel safe doing so, that is; not trying to inadvertently start a super spreader, after all. 

So, is it perfect? Not exactly. But it's damn close! And I cannot wait for Part II. 

So go check it out if you haven't already! Wherever you feel safest doing so, that is.