Dune

If you didn’t know it already, Denis Villeneuve is an extremely talented director. His style and his film choices might not sit well with some people but if he gets given the time and the reins he will produce quality time and time again. While Blade Runner 2049 wasn’t a commercial success, it was well received by those who did watch it and it remains a superb addition to the Blade Runner world, something that isn’t to be sniffed at given the strength of feeling surrounding the original film.

Dune is a different prospect though. Taking Frank Herbert’s hugely popular and influential book and adapting it for the big screen has much more constraint on it that he has had to deal with in the past. I agree that Blade Runner has some restrictions on the world he can show but it is still treading into the unknown, the path never walked before. With Dune, he has a framework that he has to work inside, with limited scope for expanding the storytelling. Even so, Villeneuve has managed to blend the more serious sci-fi book elements into the cinematic medium and created a bona-fide blockbuster of a film. It isn’t without its issues, but they are minor in comparison to the spectacle that is there before you.

I admit that I am currently working my way through the book but the fact that I hadn’t read it fully didn’t detract from the experience or enjoyment. There are a few moments that could have been explained more thoroughly but, with a little bit of inference, you can work out what is going on. That being said, to make 156 minutes of film pass by in a fashion that never allowed me to disengage or let my mind wander is some feat.

The story doesn’t take too long to get going, moving along from the exposition to the sand world of Arrakis, where the real adventure begins. Dune works well in placing the opposing pieces into place and slowly builds up to the realisation of the situation for the House of Atriedes, when it is too late to do anything. The battle sequences are of a high quality and the usage of bladed weapons over the more familiar projectile ones makes the scenes far more engaging and impactful.

Watching at the IMAX was a good decision. The soundscape around this is breathtaking. Sandworms breaching and flying vehicles were equally impressive as the vibrations thundered through the auditorium but it was the mystical Voice usage that thrilled the most. The colour palette is far more muted that I have seen in Villeneuve’s previous films, and is a stark contrast to Blade Runner 2049‘s vibrant colours but that isn’t to say that it is dull to look at. The way that cinematographer Greig Fraser managed to capture the vistas and locations are astounding at times and while we only just touch on the actual desert in this part you do get a good feel for the vastness and inhospitality of the sand planet.

The cast are uniformly great. Timothée Chalamet has never been one that I have been overly concerned with previously but here he plays Paul well and his progression through the film from the little boy to a potential leader is extremely well done. Oscar Isaac’s Duke Leto does his thing, is a presence and fulfils his role well. Rebecca Ferguson is always a delight to watch and here is no different, starting as a supporting member to Paul and Leto but becoming more important as the film advances. The supporting cast are huge and impressive: Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, Stephen McKinley Henderson….. I’ve not mentioned Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) or Chani (Zendaya) yet as their roles, particularly Zendaya’s, were only touched on and I feel that they are going to get much more important in the following film(s). We only really get a taste of the Baron’s harshness and vindictiveness and I feel there is more to come in the future.

The only other minor gripe I have with Dune is that it isn’t a complete story being told. As with other films that are opening parts of a whole, it feels unfinished (which it is!) and the ending felt more abrupt than it should have been (which, considering it isn’t the ending, isn’t a surprise). But, trying to view it as an opening gambit, a taster for the world of Dune as it were, that feeling disappears and it becomes a wonderful gateway into this rich other-world that can be explored and enjoyed. I for one am definitely going to keep going with the book and delve as deeply as I can before Part Two arrives.