"Dune" Review: An Exposition of Epic Proportions

Platform: HBOMax, In Theaters

Release Date: October 22, 2021

I had barely even heard of "Dune" until this most recent film was announced to be entering production. Never being drawn much to the epics, even those in the sci-fi genre, I did no research leading up to the movie about the premise or characters. This left nothing but the trailer to provide the information needed to gather a general grasp of what "Dune" was all about, which I can not say it did a very good job of doing. Going in, what I was sure of was that I would get beautiful scenery and expansive settings of sand and dust, but pertaining to the story, the details remained unclear. From what I could tell, there were sand people, space fighters, and Timothy Chalamet's character somewhere in between with some form of extrasensory abilities. The circumstances of my weekend resulted in having to watch this film in two halves, which is a bit ironic considering from my understanding, this film is supposed to cover about half of the first novel.

I typically begin my reviews with a summary of the film's plot, but with "Dune," that is much easier said than done. Honestly, it was a bit difficult to follow and I can not say that I completely followed all of the intricacies of the characters or the political and religious climate in which the primary conflicts exist. As far as the global focus, the film follows members of the House Atreides, at the head of which exists Duke Leto I (Oscar Isaac), his partner Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), and their son Paul (Timothée Chalamet). The House Atreides are ordered by the intergalactic Emperor to replace the House Harkonnen as rulers of the desert planet, Arrakis, which serves as the source to a vital substance called "spice". It turns out that this assignment on Arrakis was a coup orchestrated by the Emperor to allow Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and House Harkonnen to launch an attack and wipe out House Atreides. In the midst of this coup, Paul is experiencing strange and premonitory dreams that include the natives of planet Arrakis, the Fremen. This phenomena is related to his mother's lineage of the Bene Gesseritt, a sisterhood that are trained in a variety of abilities, including a mind-control technique known as "the voice" that Paul is working to master. Due to Paul's circumstances as a male with these abilities, there are some who suspect he may be the Kwisatz Haderach, a person of Bene Gesseritt legend who would be capable of bridging space and time. The movie follows these stories up to the time that Paul and his mother must regroup with the Fremen to plan their next move against the House Harkonnen.

Having a universe with such a substantial scope comes with the opportunity for vast and engrossing environments and "Dune" did not disappoint in capturing its immense imagery. Not only are the worlds' settings extremely immersive (seeing the movie in Dolby Vision did not hurt) but the movie, for better or worse, takes long panning shots to make sure you grasp the scope of Dune's reach. When the immersive settings are combined with the movie's sound design and score, it would be easy to get lost in the awe of the cinematography and set designs. In a world-focused documentary, that would have been enough to push "Dune" to great heights as a sensory experience, but it could not hold this portion of the narrative up to a higher standard.

This is a film filled with a truckload of exposition and dialogue that is meant to establish an understanding of the various factions and structures of the "Dune" universe. To be fair, I think the movie did a decent job in parsing out the information and trying to make it more digestible to a general audience. However, there was just way too much information to have to offer the audience in order to completely grasp everything that was going on between the Houses and the reasons behind the Emperor's decisions pertaining to Arrakis. The exposition, while admirably spaced, drug this movie along in a bit of a boring manner, primarily focusing on a mix of long camera shots that emphasize the vast landscapes and scope of the story with frequently interchanging dialogues that end up not carrying as much weight as they could when you are left still trying to figure out the hierarchies and motivations behind the slew of characters. It is hard to find an investment in the story when there is very little depth given to the character's reasons behind the plot-moving decisions and when there is very little understanding of the stakes of these decisions.

What I liked about the movie was even with little character depth, it did not take away from the actors' performances throughtout the film. I found the stand-out to be Rebecca Ferguson's Lady Jessica, who chewed up every scene she was in with a gentle mix of nurture, control, and secrecy. Similar can be said for Timothée Chalamet, who, with every role, continues to demonstrate that the young star is meant to be a leading man. Without these two actors keeping me engrossed in their characters, I would have ended up with a much more mundane experience than I already had. That is not to write-off any of the other actors, such as Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgard, or Javier Bardem, as they were phenomenal in their own rights. Hell, even Jason Mamoa, for who I have very little taste kept me invested in the few combats in which we saw his character, Duncan Idaho, participate. Ocassionally, you find that ensemble casts all diffuse the responsibility of standing out to each other, leaving a void of acting quality that is expected, but not in this film. Not only does everyone appear to embrace the characters they are assigned, but they also practice the intricacies that demonstrate the varying personalities and lifestyles. The problem is that the characters investments end up feeling wasted and unfulfilled with how many primary character arcs are left dangling and rarely even hit a climax. Paul's narrative is pulled forward primarily through his dreams of a female Fremen named Chani (Zendaya) that he meets at the end of the movie but in which he engages minimally. The movie is filled with many of these incomplete notions and they left it feeling like an empty experience.

It is a shame that the movie was left to drag out into the last 40 minutes or so because the combat choreography and blade work the movie implemented in its conflicts were really cool. While I know its an exaggerations, it seemed as though anyone who picked up a knife had something impressive to show for it. The visual impact of the shield suits used by the characters combined with the fast-paced combat styles were easily the most exhilarating moments of the film, only in competition with the monster-sized sand worms. The story is filled with political and religious ramifications and help elevate the narrative to a very mature stance. This lends to the promise of a rich story with a lot of layers to unpack, but that promise will have to wait until the year that "Part Two" is released.

I would be remiss if I did not mention how eerily similar this all felt to "Star Wars," from the the similarities in religious undertones, the Voice/Force parallels, the giant sand worms, and even the existence of a prominent Emperor. At first, I felt disappointed in how much of a less entertaining "Star Wars" rip-off this was until I discovered that "Dune" was written over ten years before George Lucas brought his monumental franchise to the silver screen. It is wild that "Star Wars" is reveled in cinema and sci-fi history and "Dune," especially for me, was an unknown franchise from which the former clearly drew many inspirations.

At the end of all of these words, I understand that this feels like a long introduction and set-up because that is exactly what it is meant to be, the intro to a story that is meant to span two movies. In the presence of the second film, this first one may find itself much more fitting to the story. However, that is not currently the case and it does have the responsibility of being a stand-alone film, a responsibility of which it handles a bit poorly. I am far from against documentaries, but for the large part, that is what this movie ends up feeling like. If you are a "Dune" fan or just have some knowledge of the source material, this movie is likely to strike many chords as you have some pre-existing knowledge of where this is all headed. As a member of the general audience, this was not an exhilarating motivation to immerse myself in the world of "Dune," or even get too excited for the next film quite honestly. It was a good stage-setter and was completed with high quality aspects, but it would seem this was a source material better suited for a series than a movie. I may not need the Part 2, but this first movie certainly does.

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RATING: 🌘 🌘 🌘. 5 / 5

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