Dune is the latest attempt to bring to life the 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name, following the infamous failed Alejandro Jodorowsky adaptation, the equally infamous for very different reasons David Lynch film in 1984, and a 2000 Sci-Fi Channel miniseries. This new take comes from Denis Villeneuve, who has a writing credit along with Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth. And to put it simply, the film follows Paul (Timothée Chalamet), son of Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) of House Atreides, who goes with his family to the harsh desert planet of Arrakis to harvest spice, the most valuable substance in the universe.
House Atreides is sent to Arrakis to replace House Harkonnen’s control under orders of the Emperor, and they aren’t happy to leave the planet, resulting in a conspiracy forged by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) to regain control of Arrakis, and thus regain control of the spice. Meanwhile, Paul is getting used to the responsibilities he must face, but he is distracted by these strange dreams, or perhaps visions, which gives him a glimpse of a woman, a native of Arrakis, referred to as Fremen, who goes by Chani (Zendaya). Paul soon learns that he might have something more to his destiny than he initially thought.
I’m gonna be completely honest here, this film did absolutely nothing for me. Nothing at all. I haven’t read any of the Frank Herbert books, so perhaps that may have played a role in my lack of enjoyment with this film, but I also think the filmmakers involved do very little to make the experience accessible to folks who aren’t already aware of the finer details that likely made the book so engrossing, yet comes across so painfully dull and exhausting when you’re sitting in a theater watching it the events unfold on screen.
There is plenty of spectacle, it definitely delivers on that department. While I am usually hot and cold on Denis Villeneuve – loved Prisoners, meh on Sicario, loved Arrival, meh on Blade Runner 2049 – I can totally acknowledge that the guy knows how to put together a handsomely crafted film. Greig Fraser’s cinematography gives the film a grounded look that really immerses you in the environment. Hans Zimmer’s score is the right kind of bombastic. The VFX is fantastic, Patrice Vermette does stellar work with the production design, and the costumes by Bob Morgan and Jacqueline West is great as well. There’s hardly anything here that I could actively point to, and say, “that’s bad” or “that doesn’t work.”
While this is certainly a well made and perhaps a technically better film, it just lacks any reason for you to be invested. The performances are not bad, but practically everyone speaks in this monotonous, weighty, and stoic tone that makes it really hard to connect. The few that break from this mold are Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, and Dave Bautista, but none of these guys are in this as much as you would hope. There just isn’t much personality on display here, and while it might be the lesser film, at least the David Lynch film was memorable and hypnotic in its relentless weirdness.
The pacing can be generously described as methodical, taking its time with these moments we have, particularly with Paul as he learns more about the world and his place in it. It’s not terribly interesting, but it’s neat to look at. Obviously, I knew this wasn’t going to be this fast, action-packed adventure, but even with those expectations in mind, I did find myself checking the time at numerous points, eventually just waiting it for it to be over, only for it to leave with a cliffhanger for a Part Two that hasn’t even been green-lit yet.
I know this all probably sounds unreasonably harsh, but I didn’t hate the film or anything, and I wouldn’t call it terrible. It just wasn’t for me. This is film that seems to be designed to appease fans of the book. As someone whose only exposure to this story is the David Lynch adaptation, I still found myself lost at a few points, struggling to remember names, locations, and generally puzzled about the motivations of a number of characters and the nature of certain story beats. If you’ve read the book, you would have no problem with this, all it probably does is provide a cool visual to the stuff you’ve imagined as you read. And that’s not invaluable. I hope fans of the book enjoy this, and I will give the second part, assuming it gets made, a shot, though this probably would have worked better as a series. There’s clearly a lot going on, and knowing the whole story might make this a better experience in retrospect. But as is, and as much as I tried, I had a very hard time getting into the story or its characters, as much as I do admire and like many technical elements within it.
Dune is now out in theaters, and on HBO Max for 31 days.