The Strong Release of Dune
Denis Villeneuve, the director of Dune, did this movie justice. Villeneuve has won 3 of the 18 Academy Awards he has been nominated for, 3 of the 21 BAFTA Awards he was nominated for, and has been nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards. Villeneuve’s films have never been rated lower than a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. He also has been rated as high as a 94% for the 2016 hit, Arrival. For 2021’s Dune, the film is currently rated at 83%, which is a strong rating on the RT metric.
What is Dune? I ask this because I haven’t read the books nor have I seen the 1984 adaption. Dune is an epic science fiction based around Paul Atreides, son of Duke Leto Atreides. His life takes a wild turn as he starts to get dreams about the future and how his father acquired a new planet. Well, their rival, the House Harkonnen, assigned them this planet due to their rising power in the universe and wants to take them out. This movie is slow moving, but at times has many thrilling scenes. If you like movies like a Star Wars, then you may like Dune.
Dune raked up $17.5 million in it’s opening night with $41 million over that first weekend. Worldwide it has made $238 million. In total, Dune was 2 hours and 35 minutes long, which is defintely on the longer side, but the visuals in the movie are astounding. Even the sand to the rocks to the ships, everything felt as if you were there watching everything happening. My favorite part of the movie was where the bag pipes were played. It was the coolest moment of the whole movie, it felt like they were going to war but they weren’t.
Actors Rebecca Ferguson (on the left) and Timothee Chalamet (on the right)
Picture from Den of Geek
Timothee Chalamet, who played Paul, did the role fantastically. Chalemet was brave, courageous, but also stubborn. He shows that he is a very complex person and is not afraid of danger or challenges.
Duncan Idaho, played by Jason Momoa, was very polarizing. In this movie his part is very short, which I don’t know how I feel reflecting on it, but I thought he did well. You would think a big name actor like Mamoa would have a bigger part. I say this now, but I think that he will have a bigger role to play in Dune: Part Two, which should be coming out in 2023. In the parts he was in, it showed how Duncan can be this brother figure, but most importantly, his friend that will always do anything for him.
Lastly was Rebecca Ferguson, playing Lady Jessica. She was the second major role in the movie behind Chalamet. Rebecca showed the struggles of having two families, how to balance both. She would show deep emotion with her crying to her persistence when talking to the House of Harkonnen.
In all, I think Villeneuve did this movie very well, and the reviews do not give it justice. For instance, Jonathan Rommey from Uncut said, “Dune is an achievement for sure, but watching it is rather like having huge marble monoliths dropped on you for two and a half hours, to the resounding clang of a Hans Zimmer score.”
I have never read the books but after this, I want to read the books. This movie makes me eager to watch the part two of Dune.
To finalize my thoughts, I liked the movie, I did think it was slow but if you don’t like slow movies then it’s not for you. The good specifics about this movie were the scenery, the plot was very well set up, and the character set up was amazing. I think everyone should watch it if you are into slow-building, science fiction, with some action.