Review of Dune (2021) by Spartan_117 — 18 Nov 2021

Dune is a world that has been on my radar for years now but I never delved deep into it, mostly because I wanted to read the book first whenever that time comes. When Denis Villeneuve, one of my favourite contemporary directors, took the reigns of a new adaptation of it, and it finally got released recently, I knew it was time. The sci-fi story, without going into details and spoiler territory, is set in a possible future many 1000s of years from now and is centred around House Atreides, one of several great houses and the son of the duke, as they are tasked by the emperor to take charge of the desert planet Arrakis, where a crucial and rare mineral is extracted, in place of another house. Things don't go as planned when they get there. This is one of those rare occasions where I have read the source material and I was ecstatic to check out this film to see how that world is brought to the screen with the help of modern technology. To no surprise for me knowing Denis' previous filmography, the film is an audiovisual treat. I do hate the fact that I didn't have the luxury to check this out in cinemas, let alone IMAX. Still, watching it at home on my average Home Theater, I was enthralled by how the universe created by Frank Herbert was brought onto the screen in a sublime seamless fashion. Whether it is shots of landscapes, cityscapes, planets, massive futuristic vehicles, the sandworms, indoor spaces, all of it looked wonderful with top-notch CGI. The imagination at display from the source material was awe-inspiring and the love for it was shown in taking the time to let the visuals breathe instead of haphazardly throwing in stuff and rushing to the finish line. The word EPIC does get thrown around a lot but this is one of the few occasions where it aptly fits and then some.

Accompanying the visuals are the top-tier sound effects that can give you an eargasm and a fittingly strong score by Hans Zimmer. Sure, you do get the usual BUWAAAMS but on a whole, I enjoyed the uniqueness/freshness of Zimmer on this one from his norm. Kinda liked how it felt for Interstellar, although not as amazing. There are a lot of characters and the casting for many of them was really good. I loved Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto, he fits that persona so well and I so wish there was more of him. Rebecca Furgeson as Lady Jessica was awesome and had one of the best performances in the film. Stellan Skarsgard as the Baron Harkonnen was a stroke of genius, so imposing and effective with the accompanying visuals. Havier Bardem as Stilgar was friggin amazing and I can't wait to see more of him in Part Two. Timothee Chalamet as the protagonist Paul Atreides was another strong one although when compared to veteran actors, he did stumble here and there but also had some GREAT moments. Plenty of well-casted actors for characters from the book. Unfortunately, even with the 2 and a half hour runtime, characterization was weak. So many characters didn't have enough screentime to be fleshed out properly and some got completely shafted, for example, Piter de Vries. Some story beats also suffered. Still, some of the writing was commendable that even with a lot of material to adapt, most of it went through quite well even if I was wishing they made the movie a full 3 hours long. The omissions made and sacrifices for the dialogue wouldn't have been an issue then. Now, it is not apparent from the promotional material but this is Part One of the experience that roughly covers 55% of the book, so keep that in mind as the film just sorta ends without any satisfying conclusion. I'm so glad that Part Two has been announced, so now we wait for that... it's gonna be excruciating. Overall, despite some issues, I loved it. It's a faithful adaptation from someone who genuinely cared for it. A grand-scale epic serious sci-fi adventure that you don't really get anymore. It's probably the best audiovisual treat I've gotten since Denis Villeneuve's last sci-fi outing i.e Blade Runner 2049 (absolutely love that film). Just goes to show how modern visual effects can be implemented in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing. Whether you've read the book or are new to this world, I'd highly recommend checking it out. And if I were to rate it, I'd give it an 8/10.