Movie Reaction: Dune

Formula: Dune (1984) / 2

 

When it comes to fantasy and Sci-Fi adaptations, the thing you really need is a well-conceived world. The Lord of the Rings movies work as well as they do because that is a fully realized world. It can be scaled up or down as much as the filmmaker needs. The story itself is almost secondary. They can do the story in whatever level of detail they want because you're never catching Peter Jackson flat footed. That's a lot of why Game of Thrones worked so well. And it's why some others like Eragon have struggled. Dune is one of those books* with such a clearly establish world that film adaptations were inevitable. David Lynch took the mightiest stab at it in 1984, unable to handle the scope of the story in a single movie. It's a noble misfire which didn't quiet the talk of getting it a proper adaptation. The success of the Lord of the Rings movies surely renewed the interest.

 

*True to form, I haven't read the books, so these are all secondhand observations.

Denis Villeneuve was the right man for the job. He's made a career out of deepening worlds. Sicario and Prisoners have a real sense of place. Arrival builds a hypothetical worldwide response to an event excellently. Blade Runner 2049 fleshes out the world of the classic 80s movie so thoroughly that I didn't even care how long the movie was. I just wanted to live in the world of that film for as long as possible. He brings the same thing to Dune.

 

I can't get into too much detail about the plot. There's a lot to it. Basically, there's a galactic empire with warring factions. There's a brutally hot planet called Arrakis that is mined for a valuable substance called spice. Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) is the son of the man recently put in charge of the mining operations. Eventually, there's a challenge for power there and that's about it. It's 2.5 hours of mostly place-setting. And I'm completely fine with that. Villeneuve and his crew put together a beautiful and vibrant world, full of things to look at. As opposed to David Lynch's aggressive weirdness, Villeneuve goes for something more hypnotic to look at. I think I missed half of what was going on in the movie (something I'll happily work on with future rewatches) but I was so happy to be living in the world of the movie that I didn't care.

 

This is very much a part one. It even says so in the opening title card. I’m so happy it’s getting a sequel to complete the story. The fact that it is a part one gives the cast really unequal time. Chalamet is the lead and impressively embraces all of it. While he's the protagonist, he isn't especially heroic in this. He a bunch of unrealized potential so far. I'm curious to see what he looks like in more of a hero mode in a part two. Zendaya is all over the advertising, but she's a very small part of this movie. Most of her time is spent in slow motion dream shots. The movie belongs more to Paul's parents, played by Oscar Isaac and Rebecca Ferguson*. Both are very good. The assignment for everyone here is to deliver a lot of exposition and crazy dialogue with conviction. In that respect, no one feels like they are playing a part. They all deliver their lines without a hint of irony or silliness. Stellan Skarsgaard plays the lead villain like a Guillermo del Toro nightmare creation. Dave Bautista and Javier Bardem will surely get more to do later on. Jason Mamoa gets to beat some people up, and that's well within his skillset.

 

*At only 13 years older than Chalamet, it's a little weird to see her as his mother. Then again, I don't know anyone's ages in this or how long the book covers. Perhaps they cast with her playing her actual age in this one, since it's her bigger movie and they cast Chalamet to play young now and age into the role for future movies.

 

This is very much an incomplete assignment as is. Other than saying it's a gorgeous movie that successfully builds the world, I'm hedging a lot of my criticism on the idea that surely there will be more. The functional climax of the movie felt tacked on just to give the audience something a little exciting to latch onto before the credits. I don't mind, since I'm assuming that every other time I'll be talking about this movie in the future will be as part of a set: like how I talk about The Lord of the Rings and almost never The Fellowship of the Ring. So, there's where I'll leave this. Dune Part 1 is a great start. I can't wait to see where it goes.

 

Verdict: Strongly Recommend