Dune - Movie Review

Critics Score - 9 of 10

General Audience Score - 9 of 10

Back in 1965 a book was written that has been heralded as one of the greatest inspirational books of all time and one of the world’s best-selling science fiction novels, a little piece of work by Frank Herbert called Dune. This book has captured the imaginations of people throughout the decades but has proved notoriously difficult to convert into film, with a couple attempts resulting in one failed attempt and one 1984 David Lynch film that garnered mixed reception. In steps Denis Villeneuve, the director who brought the aliens to us in Best Picture nominated The Arrival and then took us to the edge of the future in Blade Runner 2049, now to try his hand at converting these words on paper into film on screen. This time thanks to the computer technology that exists and the massive budget bestowed upon the film from the Warner Brothers studio, we have a piece of cinema that is nothing short of a landmark in filmmaking. While the film pushes into the two and a half hour range and sometimes lacks for a bit of action, the intrigue and drama created within the story and the epic world building that’s being poured into this can leave you utterly breathless and taken aback. Whenever you can do so safely, make it a priority to see it, preferably on a big screen or IMAX if at all possible, because this film will stretch your mind and imagination further than your eyes can see in the desert, far past the last Dune. 

SYNOPSIS - Oh boy, where do I begin? We start off with some flashes of the desert planet Arrakis, a couple of it’s inhabitants, some troops, fighting, spaceships taking off and then a shirtless Paul (Timothée Chalamet) wakes up from this recurring dream. After slipping into something a little more . . something, he goes downstairs to have breakfast with his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and we discover two important things. First, this family is royalty about to attend a ceremony. Second, Jessica is teaching Paul some kind of special power that requires him using his voice in a particular way that can make people obey commands. Paul then chills in his room and listens to some exposition that informs us that Arrakis is the only planet that produces an all important “spice”, an incredibly valuable mineral of sorts that makes interstellar travel possible and can turn human’s eyes blue enough to make Chris Pine jealous. It is also home to the native Fremen, an indigenous people who share their desert home with sand worms the size of skyscrapers, which main purpose I can only assume is for the Gods to use when they go fishing for solar-system sized trout. The ceremony commences and while it’s not easy to discern what’s happening, we eventually understand that the head of our royal family, Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), is being appointed by some galactic commission to take charge of the foreign planet Paul dreams about. This is all first ten minutes stuff, but it may help you grasp some of the general concepts of the monumental world building and groundwork that this film needs to lay for audiences, because this film is deep and complex and can be difficult to follow at times.

Once all the galactic trout have been caught and eaten and Shalamet has finished wooing all the women on our world and his, most will just be left dumbfounded and completely blown away at this masterpiece of cinema. Paul is the focal point of the story, similar to Frodo in Lord Of The Rings, but there’s so many auxiliary pieces and moving parts that the story can’t really focus on him much until the third act. The production design of these worlds is massive and immerse us completely is this alternate universe. The original score and sound work of Dune is as epic as they come, the work Hans Zimmer does is incredible and adds to the grandiose quality of the film in much the same way that Inception’s score did. This film may reach a perfect 10 of 10 upon future viewings or possibly once the whole story is complete and it all comes together, but for now, just consider it one of the years top five films.

SUMMARY - This movie is impeccably crafted with so many aspects of it being executed at an incredibly high level, it’s difficult to not be highly entertained for most of it’s runtime. A few may get a little lost in the convoluted nature of the film’s galactic political themes and figuring out who all the high ranking pieces of this interstellar chess game are, because they and their motivations aren’t exactly clear. But this is a film of epic proportions, and we’ve only gotten the first installment, we may have the next Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings or Harry Potter on our hands, and it’s name is Dune.