Dune is Star Wars meets Game Of Thrones meets Lord Of The Rings. This remake, reboot, re-adaption of Frank Herbert‘s original novels, pulls from much that we already know, yet brings much more to the story.
Denis Villenueve’s 2021 Dune movie brings us a science fiction, fantasy epic with an all star cast in this first film in the Dune saga.
The Plot – Dune
The Dune-iverse
In the Dune universe, Padishah Emperors reign over most of the known worlds. Below the Emperor, competing royal houses vie for control of various planets, and the money and power they represent.
House Atreides controls their home planet of Caladan, but has recently been given the desert planet of Arrakis to run as well. Arrakis is rich in a mineral named Melange, also known as ‘Spice’, but the production and refinement of Spice is far from simple.
Until recently, Arrakis has been run by House Harkonnen, rival to House Atreides. Now, Duke Leto Atreides and his family must travel from their moist, oceanic home world to take over the mining operations on Arrakis.
Arrakis
Upon arriving on Arrakis, Duke Leto Atreides, played by Oscar Isaac, accompanied by Gurney Halleck, played by Josh Brolin; meets up with their advance man, Duncan Idaho, played by Jason Momoa.
Idaho has been on Arrakis for some time getting the lay of the land. He’s met the Arrakis natives, called the Fremen, and seen first hand the challenges House Atreides must face.
Most importantly, Duncan tells them about Sandworms, or the Shai-Hulud. Top of the food chain, and almost more force of nature than living being, the Shai-Hulud can swallow whole Spice Mining units, carrying over 20 people, in a single bite.
The Good – Dune
The Cast
Dune’s talented cast brings familiar faces from many of your favorite franchises together to tell this epic story.
Marvel actors Stellan Skarsgard, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, and Zendaya jump off the screen. Star Wars actors Oscar Isaac and Sharon Duncan-Brewster; the DCEU’s Aquaman, Jason Momoa; Bond veteran, Javier Bardem; and Mission Impossible‘s Rebecca Ferguson round out the talented cast.
The CGI
Anyone who’s read my reviews or seen my videos knows I, Dragon Movie Guy, H-A-T-E Computer Generated Images, or CGI.
Even the ‘best’ or most expensive CGI looks fake, and jumps off the screen by how bad it looks. Even when only parts of a finished shot are Computer Generated, that part of the image just doesn’t belong – think Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars Episode 1.
However, the CGI in Dune is GREAT. The quality of the work, especially the ships and the Sandworm, is seamless. The CGI elements blend perfectly with the practical, or ‘real’, parts of the picture. Not a single CG element grabs your eye, really allowing you to suspend disbelief and get pulled into the story.
This truly is the exception that proves the rule!
The Storytelling
One of the hardest things to do when telling a story on an epic scale is to balance the big with the small; the grand scale battle between House Atreides and House Harkonnen, and the ground level or personal journey of Paul Atreides and his family.
Villeneuve walks that tightrope by slowly introducing the characters, and the cultural and political elements.
We get introduced to the Bene Gesserit after Paul has a vision. The audience learns about the group as Paul learns about his mother’s legacy.
We get introduced to the Shai-Hulud when Leto and Paul are given a tour of the Spice Mining operation. We see the Sandworm at the same time as Leto and Paul.
The Bad – Dune
The Ending
The one thing about Dune that jars the storytelling is the ending.
This is NOT a spoiler, but a critique of the structure. The film ends on a virtual bookmark; a pause in the story, rather than a natural end to the film.
Since Dune is conceived as a single story told over two movies, the ending of this film isn’t the end of the journey, or the climax of the story arc. Similar to The Hobbit trilogy of films being told from one book, the ending feels very similar.
After watching nearly three hours of film, the movie just sort of ends without resolution of the story. Brilliant storytelling, but we have to wait a couple of years to see the end.
The Review – Dune
Easily the best big budget movie of 2021 so far, all the elements that you want from a film like this come together in a near perfect way.
Director Denis Villeneuve masters large scale storytelling better than any since Avengers: Infinity War.
The location shooting in both Norway for Caladan, and the United Arab Emirates and Jordan for Arrakis; juxtapose the contrasting worlds well. The grit and beauty of the landscapes sell the harsh reality of a life spent mining Spice. And, the extreme conditions add an extra layer of authenticity to the struggles of the Fremen people.
I don’t know if it’s possible for there to be a ‘quick’ three hour movie, but the two hour and 35 minute runtime for Dune flies by.
The Effects, the locations, the cast, and the pace and execution of the storytelling; all come together to make for a great movie! And, the music from Hans Zimmer, including the haunting choral refrains put this film over the top!
Go watch this film, and watch it in theaters to truly take in all of the epic visuals.
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Denis Villeneuve's Dune remake brings epic storytelling to the big screen. Based on Frank Herbert's Dune novels.