Movie Review: Dune

Dune

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Chang Chen, Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, Zendaya

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 155 minutes

Some spoilers follow:

Dune was considered un-filmable.  Or, to be more accurate, it was considered impossible to film it really well.  Because Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, revered as one of the quintessential works in science fiction, has been adapted for live-action before, twice in fact.  The first filmed version was a 1984 David Lynch movie, followed by a 2000 Sci-Fi Channel miniseries.  But while both of these works have their supporters neither is widely considered a satisfying adaptation (the movie is said to stray too far from the source material while the series didn’t have the physical resources to bring it to proper life).  Despite these past disappointments fans have been optimistic about the new cinematic adaptation because of its director and co-writer Denis Villeneuve.  The French Canadian has proven to be one of the most consistent and skilled filmmakers working today, delivering a string of acclaimed hits including Sicario and Arrival across the last decade.  And he’s already successfully accomplished another feat in the sci-fi genre that was long considered impossible by making a worthy sequel to Blade Runner.  With Dune, he continues his hot streak and shows that fans’ faith was not misplaced.  As the first of a planned two-part adaptation of the novel, the film may not feature a complete story but it is still an epic cinematic achievement, bringing a grandiose vision of Herbert’s world to striking life and starting the story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) in incredibly strong fashion.

Per the novel, Dune takes place in the distant future of humanity.  Paul’s father, Leto (Oscar Isaac) is a duke in an intergalactic imperium.  His mother, Leto’s official concubine, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), is a member of the Bene Gesserit, a group of witch-like women with unusual abilities that covertly tries to manipulate galactic events for its own ends, and has trained Paul in their ways.  But Paul displays abilities even the Bene Gesserit consider supernatural, including visions of the future.  When the emperor orders Leto and House Atreides to take over spice mining operations on the desert planet Arrakis (also known as Dune) it’s an honor on the surface but one that poses significant dangers.  Spice (also called melange) is considered the most valuable substance in the universe and can only be found on Arrakis, meaning that the Atreides now control what everyone wants.  In addition, House Harkonnen, the Atreides’ historical enemies led by the monstrous Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), was the prior caretakers of Arrakis and will not give up their former fiefdom easily.  When the Atreides are attacked, Paul and Jessica must flee deep into the desert, where they encounter the indigenous Fremen as the conflict draws Paul closer to his uncertain destiny, which may see him become a messiah figure to multiple galactic religions.

A lot of the talk around Dune has been centered on the decision to split the novel into two films.  Similar to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which started the trend of splitting complex novels into two movies, Dune the book is so dense that the decision makes sense, but the way the producers and filmmakers went about doing so is unusual.  Not only were the two movies not filmed back to back, it was not even a certainty throughout the production of Dune: Part One (as it’s titled onscreen) that the second film would be allowed to go into production.  This caused quite a bit of stress in the discourse surrounding the movie, as fans and cinephiles worried that the undertaking would remain incomplete.  But following stronger than expected openings in both the international and American box offices and on HBO Max, where the film was available for streaming for a month, the second film was officially greenlighted, allowing everyone to relax.  But the film’s status as the first half of a story is still worth noting in regard to its overall quality.

Villeneuve’s Dune, as a result of its nature,  is very much the beginning of a story.  But the choice of the narrative stopping point is logical, coming after crucial points in both the larger conflict and Paul’s emotional journey.  As in the novel, Paul and Jessica are the most thoroughly fleshed-out characters and both make significant strides in their development before the credits roll.  Between this and the increased importance given to characters who only appear in the first half of the novel, Villeneuve and co-writers Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth ensure that Part One is a satisfying enough experience despite ending in the middle of the overall journey.

Dune is perfectly cast, with all the major actors accurately realizing their characters’ essential characteristics as defined by Herbert and, in many cases, adding their own special nuances.  Chalamet vividly demonstrates Paul’s growth with brooding intensity and makes the character’s immense inner turmoil obvious.  The novel is full of internal monologues, especially from Paul, and it’s impressive how well Chalamet manages to make the emotions expressed through them apparently without the benefit of the words.  Ferguson was born to play Jessica, ably capturing her conflict about whether to put her loyalty to the Bene Gesserit or her love for Leto and Paul first, and the result is the film’s most emotionally vibrant performance, brimming with immense intelligence, a ruthless, steely resolve, and loving vulnerability.  Oscar Isaac has a regal power that makes Leto a commanding presence and completes the core Atreides trio well.  Josh Brolin mixes refreshing humor with his usual gruffness in the role of Atreides military leader Gurney Halleck.  Javier Bardem and Zendaya play Stilgar and Channi, the most significant Fremen characters, and make solid first impressions, though, as, in the novel, the meat of their roles is saved for the second part.  Skarsgård is every bit as unsettling as readers will have imagined the Baron to be, with a strong performance aided by convincing visual and makeup effects.  And Jason Momoa emerges as a somewhat unexpected highlight as Atreides warrior Duncan Idaho.  Duncan and Paul’s friendship adds a nice degree of warmth to the film and Momoa and Chalamet play the sibling-like dynamic well.  Duncan is also an intriguing character on his own and Momoa mixes an intense swagger with quiet intelligence that creates a fascinating presence whenever he’s on-screen, in what may be the best performance of his career.

Acting is just one part of the puzzle that is Dune, however.  The film is an awe-inspiring effort on practically every audio-visual level, with the various filmmakers working in perfect tandem to realize Villeneuve’s vision of Herbert’s world.  As is often the case in Villeneuve films sound plays a crucial role in creating the atmosphere and tone.  The sound designers and composer Hans Zimmer craft a booming, enveloping soundscape that imbues Arrakis and the rest of the film’s world with dark majesty and contributes greatly to making Paul’s journey the epic, haunting experience that it is.  Cinematographer Greig Fraser brings variety to the different areas of the desert and immerses the viewer in the experience, with extremely bright compositions capturing the heat of the desert days that are then contrasted sharply with the deep shadows of the night scenes and cooler colors of other planets.  Fraser’s work is also crucial in capturing the immense scale of futuristic weapons, crafts, and other technology, which are made wonderfully tactile by the excellent production design and visual effects that rely on practical methods whenever possible.

Dune‘s reputation, of course, will be affected significantly by the second part.  But even on the off chance that the follow-up falters, this film will still be a work of supreme quality.  Villeneuve and company have outdone themselves, crafting a loving and effective adaptation that is both accessible and unique and arguably improves upon its source in some ways.  It may very well be one of the defining films of this generation.