Review: Dune

Update 10-28-21

I re-watched this on HBO and am slightly revising my original ranking. I still stand by most of what I said, but it's not QUITE as slow or uneven the second time around, so I'm awarding it an extra half-tub of popcorn. It's worth noting that I was very tired after a long drive when we went to see the flick, and probably not in the ideal headspace for it.  

Introduction

2021 has been a year of hotly anticipated films, unlike any we've seen in a very long time. A lot if it is because of pandemic delays, no doubt, but that doesn't change the fact that the films that are coming out this year are ones we've waited for a long time. Dennis Villeneuve's Dune (Part One) is no exception. For a certain section of science fiction fans, this one was as anticipated as The Force Awakens was to Star Wars fans--possibly more, because the only adaptations we've had of the novel up till now have been a confusing mess of an art film adaptation by David Lynch in the early 80s, and a couple of SyFy miniseries which were fairly good, but had low budget TV movie production values. 

So here we are. Dennis Villeneueve is best known for being behind the films Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, both films popular with critics and fans, but not exactly box office blockbusters. His visual style is arguably ideal for this project in a way that no other director's is, but we'll get to that in a moment. John Spaiths, the co-screenwriter with Villeneuve and Eric Roth, is responsible for Prometheus, Doctor Strange, and Tom Cruise's The Mummy...one out of three ain't bad? 

So in the end, how does Dune hold up? Let's find out. 

The Good

I won't dwell on the visuals here (we'll get to those, as always, in "The Ugly," below). But suffice it to say it's everything you expect from a Villeneuve film: stunning cinematography and amazing FX. The performances are great and most of the cast won me over. I did keep (unfairly) comparing Timothee Chalement's Paul Atreides to Kyle McLachlan's, but that was my own subconscious at work (even more entertaining was comparing Josh Brolin to Patrick Stewart). But subconscious comparisons aside, everyone bit into their roles with gusto and they are all meaty roles. Stellan Skaarsgard is appropriately repulsive as Baron Harkonen; Dave Bautista is menacing as always. Jason Mamoa plays his usual noble warrior as well as he always does--yes, he's typecast at this point, but if it works, it works. We only get a little of Zendaya, but she lights up the screen, again, as always. Chalement is a gawky, angry, awkward teenager, which arguably suits Paul much better than any adaptation yet. 

I'm going to avoid comparisons to the book for two reasons: one, I've never been able to get all the way through it, and two, I think people waste too much time comparing books to films, which need to be judged on their own merits due to the stark differences in the two media. The major questions to ask are, does the film hit the major story beats, and does it remain in the spirit of the book? In both of these, I think Dune succeeds in spades. 

The story is straightforward (which is a feat given how complicated the political threads are that weave through it) and easy to follow even for someone who has never heard of Dune before. The wife had a few questions about the Gene Besserit witches when we left, but those were easily answered (basically, they're what they appear to be: mysterious witches who manipulate politics to their own ends). If you've only seen the 1984 film and thought the story a mess (it was), I recommend this one. You'll understand it all much better. It's well executed overall. 

The Bad

This is a film that was clearly made by a fan of the book, for fans of the book. It's 2.5 hours long, and while I usually don't mind long movies, this one is paced unevenly and moves at a snail's pace. You feel every minute of the 2.5 hours. I was, I admit, bored at some points of the film. It could have been much more tightly paced. That would've required a few minor cuts to the story, but again, movies and books are two different media, and sometimes sacrifices are necessary for the visual medium. The cast and visuals carried me through those parts. 

Villeneueve is a director whose flaw is that he focuses more on visuals than on effective storytelling, and that can be both a benefit and a flaw to his finished products. In this case it held the film back, I think. There are a few too many sweeping, cinematographically-stunning shots of Arrakis, and interminably long shots of aircraft starting up because look how cool they are, looking like dragonflies. 

Action beats, though BIG when they happen, are few and far between, and sometimes it feels like the film is reaching to find something interesting to keep you invested in the long spaces between them. Now again, if you are a fan of the book, none of this matters. You're probably swept away in finally seeing the book done justice in such a visually gorgeous way on screen, and that's great. For general audiences, though, this isn't going to light up their lives and create new (or revived) general fandoms like, say Lord of the Rings did. 

The Ugly

I've mentioned it in passing above but this film is nothing short of a technical triumph. The special effects are mind-blowing. The cinematography is unlike anything you've seen in a sci-fi film before. The costumes, the sets, everything about the visuals and sound will utterly transport you into the worlds of the Dune universe. The sand worms still look like uncircumcised penises with teeth, but hey, there's not a lot you can do about that. They are what they are. 

What hit me is how grounded everything is. As fantastical as the technology, cultures, religions, ceremonies, and languages are, they still feel very real, very gritty. They are all clearly inspired by real-world traditions and languages, and it shows in a good way. The culture is masterfully created by syncretizing what we have here, and making it into its own very believable universe. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about the technical aspects of the film. 

I did not see it in 3D; we opted for XD instead. So I can't really speak with any authority at all as to how that looked. People seem to have enjoyed it a great deal, and speaking from what Villaneueve did with Blade Runner, I'm sure it was stunning. 

Summary

Dune is a visual triumph and a much more accessible retelling of the novel than David Lynch's 1984 adaptationw as. The cast, performances and visuals are all top notch. It is, however, unevenly paced with parts that just seem unnecessarily slow. It's a film that puts visual splendor over pacing, but one that is made by a fan of the novel for fans of the novel, so I cannot necessarily argue that the approach is wrong. I enjoyed it and will be in the theater for the next chapter. I give it 4 out of 5 popcorn tubs.