Dune – Bold, Ambitious And (Mostly) Brilliant

[geektalk]

Dune is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Does it live up to the hype? Join me for my (mostly) spoiler free review.

 

The Critical Drinker

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well [ __ ] it finally happens when it

comes to movies saddled with a [ __ ] ton

of anticipation it’s tough to think of a

better candidate in 2021 than denise

vellner’s dune the latest attempt to

adapt frank herbert’s labyrinthine

sci-fi novel to the big screen and to be

honest it really does feel like there’s

a lot of riding on this movie in a

market dominated by brain dead action

franchises and endless bland predictable

comic book films dune represents

something a bit different a slower more

thoughtful and mature kind of movie that

tackles grand ideas on an epic scale and

does it very much at its own pace june’s

success or failure could prove to be the

bellwether for the entire sci-fi genre

so i guess it’s a good thing that it

turns out to be a really [ __ ] solid

movie that reminded me hollywood is

actually still capable of making good

stuff if the right people are involved i

mean there’s definitely a few caveats to

that and some issues with the writing

and pacing which i’ll cover later in the

review but for the most part i came away

from dune feeling like i’d watched a

genuinely smart engaging and

well-intentioned take on some pretty

challenging source material directed by

a man who clearly wanted to tell his

story in the best possible way now

because i’d encourage people to

experience this film for themselves i’m

going to keep this review light on

spoilers and stick to a general plot

outline before getting into the

nitty-gritty of the review so suit up

dear viewer and let the spice flow dune

is set in a distant future where the

human race is spread out to colonize the

galaxy in a vast interstellar empire

dominated by a number of extremely

powerful and wealthy noble houses all of

this is made possible by a rare material

known as spice which grants extended

life heightened awareness and a kind of

psychic vision that allows pilots to

navigate from one side of the galaxy to

the other the problem is that only one

planet in the known universe has the

stuff and that’s the barren desert world

of arrakis whoever controls arrakis

controls the spice and whoever controls

the spice controls the galaxy the other

problem is that mining spice is a

dangerous business not only do you have

to contend with harsh conditions and

giant sand worms that can eat entire

vehicles but also attacks by fremen

wandering nomads that have made arrakis

their home for generations the planet’s

been under the control of the oppressive

house harkinan basically the bad guys of

the story but at the start of the movie

the harkinans have been ordered to leave

and house the treaties have been put in

charge instead duke leto the head of the

house travels to arrakis along with his

son paul and his concubine lady jessica

to take charge of the planets

unfortunately it all turns out to be a

big trap and the atreides forces get

wiped out in a single disastrous night

leaving only a few scattered survivors

one of which happens to be paul will

this unprepared young man have the

strength and determination to become the

legendary messiah that’s meant to unite

the scattered freeman into an army

strong enough to retake the planets and

even if he does what will he have to

give up to become such a man right

that’s the plot summary out of the way

now it’s time for some analysis first up

june is a visual masterpiece that looks

absolutely incredible especially if you

watch it in imax vlan have proved with

blade runner 2049 that he can deliver

visual spectacle that’s more than just

explosions and destruction and he really

cements that reputation with dune

everything from the grand sweeping

landscape shots of arrakis and the

atreides homeworld to the cityscapes and

spaceships orbiting the planet it all

looks gorgeous and it really showcases

the power of modern film technology when

it’s properly used the equipment

vehicles and general level of technology

is pretty much faithful to the books too

the ornithopters look like real aircraft

that could actually fly the spaceships

and battle barges are big hulking and

imposing designed to project sheer

military power and dominance even the

personal force fields which have

basically done away with the concept of

projectile weapons are well realised and

thought out here the world of dune is

basically a series of contradictions and

contrasts a world of super advanced

technology that has armies fighting each

other with swords and spears a galaxy

spanning civilization ruled over by a

primitive feudalistic government

individuals with more power and wealth

than we could begin to comprehend still

driven by the same petty impulses of

greed jealousy and paranoia the movie

also does an excellent job of building

up the various factions and

organizations at play giving you enough

to understand their relationships and

immediate goals without knowing their

ultimate motivations from the decadent

novel houses vying for power to the

nomadic fremen who keep their true

numbers and strength hidden to the

secrets of benedict quietly manipulating

events behind the scenes there’s a real

sense that everyone is plotting and

scheming against everyone else and

nobody’s ready to tip their hand yet

casting and performances are mostly

strong across the board oscar isaac is

solid as the embattled duke leto an

honorable man slowly realizing he’s been

set up to fail but doing his best in an

impossible situation josh brolin and

javier bardem are both veteran actors

who know their business and never drop

the ball and stellan skarsgard is pitch

perfect as baron harkin and portraying a

much colder and more calculating version

of the character than we’ve seen before

timothy chalamet probably wouldn’t have

been my first choice as paul he’s a bit

too young and too feminine looking but

he does grow on you over the course of

the movie and there’s moments when he

reveals a darker side to his character

that play out really well he’s a man who

doesn’t truly understand who and what he

is railing and rebelling against the

destiny that circumstances are slowly

pushing him towards also i love the fact

that rebecca ferguson is playing his

mother when she’s only like 13 years

older than him on the other side there’s

not many people who consider jason momoa

to be a versatile actor and this movie’s

not likely to change anyone’s minds i

also had reservations about zendaya

after her uh performance in the

spider-man movies and to be honest my

fears were kind of justified here she

does the same weird squinting thing that

someone must have told her conveys a

man’s personal gravitas but the good

news is that she’s barely in the movie

she shows up in dreams and visions

occasionally but she only appears in the

flesh for like the final 10 minutes of

the film and i’m fine with that talking

about the ending though it does bring me

on to one of my big criticisms of dune

in that it doesn’t really have one it

just kind of stops in the middle of a

scene with no resolution to anything and

no sense of narrative completeness i

know they made the decision to split

dune into two films but honestly i think

they could have found a more natural

endpoint than this basically this entire

movie serves as a prologue to the real

meat of dune’s narrative which is paul’s

rise through the ranks of the fremen the

struggle against his destiny to become a

messiah and the eventual battle to

retake arrakis and that being the case

it leaves you wanting more because it

feels like it delivered less than it

should and i think some of this comes

down to the pacing dune is absolutely a

slow burner of a movie that’s not to say

that nothing happens but everything that

does happen plays out in a slow

methodical kind of way there’s long

reflective scenes where characters

ponder their fate and explain their

outlook big extravagant shots of ships

making planet fall cityscapes and people

staring off thoughtfully towards the

horizon and it’s all accompanied by

heavy epic hand zimmer music that makes

every single moment and every decision

seem like it’s going to change the fate

of humanity it’s all good stuff but it

clearly adds to the runtime of what’s

already a pretty lengthy movie and i

can’t shake the feeling that if the

editing had been a bit tighter they

might have been able to advance the plot

to a more satisfying end point it

doesn’t really help that the story is

delivered as if everything that happens

in it is a foregone conclusion the fall

of house atreides is telegraphed about

an hour before it happens paul’s destiny

is a chosen one is established in his

first few scenes and hammered home again

and again throughout the movie every

character’s walking a path that’s

already been laid out for them most of

whom seem to know it already and the

result is less of a dynamic story shaped

by the characters and their decisions

and more of a self-fulfilling prophecy

inevitably coming to pass it’s pretty

hard to build up tension when you kind

of know what’s going to happen already

the world building is insanely complex

and detailed in some areas but weirdly

sparse and bleak in others like a good

chunk of the early movie is set on

kaladan the atreides home planet but

apart from soldiers a few military

advisers and government personnel

there’s not even a hint of what the

actual population looks like there’s no

cities no civilians no culture no

suggestion of what everyday life is like

under a treaty’s rule it’s the same once

they get to arrakis there’s a brief shot

of local civilians that have come out to

witness the arrival of paul and the

others but the only window into this

place is the fremen and you don’t even

see them until the finale i get that

this stuff isn’t strictly necessary to

the story but watching lone characters

wandering through vast empty palaces and

parade grounds leaves you with the weird

sense that all of this is happening in a

vacuum which is pretty much the opposite

of what the movie should be trying to do

now all these issues probably make it

seem like i didn’t enjoy this movie but

i can assure you that’s absolutely not

the case dune is a smart technically

brilliant and deeply immersive movie

that genuinely impressed me and the

reason i’ve taken so much time to

outline my criticisms is that most of

them are so deeply buried that they kind

of demand a lot of explanation they

certainly didn’t ruin the experience for

me and if anything the fact that this

film was able to do what amounts to the

thankless donkey work of the narrative

without too many missteps really bodes

well for the sequel i just hope we

actually get one when i reviewed the

trailer i voiced my concern that a more

philosophical less action-oriented movie

like this might struggle to make back

its hefty budget i know that i’ve

actually seen it my opinion hasn’t

changed much don’t get me wrong we

absolutely need more movies like dune

but the unfortunate reality is that

we’ll only get them if people are

willing to pay for them i just hope

they’re willing to pay for this one

because honestly it deserves it

anyway that’s all i’ve got for today

go away now

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