Dune (2021) Review

Title: Dune
Year: 2021
Director: Dennis Villenueve 
Country: US
Language: English

In 1965 Author Frank Herbert published Dune as two separate series in Analog magazine. It was tied for the Hugo Award & won the Nebula Award for best novel in 1966. Nearly half a century later it would be cited as the best selling science fiction novel of all time. In 1984, after his commercial and critical success The Elephant Man, David Lynch would adapt it into a fairly memorable yet displeasing to critics film adaptation of Dune. In 2021 Dennis Villeneuve would be the second person to dip his hand into adapting the material for screen. That is the version we will be reviewing today. 

Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides (Timothee Chamalet), a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people.

In the past decade (2011-2021) due to the advancement of CGI, there are many movies that are touted as epic, but don't feel epic (Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars)  In my subjective opinion, Dune is the first film that actually feels epic in quite a while. It is immense! Filled to the brim with gorgeous cinematography, remarkable set design, rich story, intriguing character development.  and a powerful Oscar worthy soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. Villeneuve's Dune is this generation's Lord of the Rings. 

Ambitious and fairly complex, Dune celebrates Herbert's book by being more faithful to the story than Lynch's take. It is quite clear that Villeneuve understood the subject matter at hand & went out of his way to make the picture a satisfying experience. Well, perhaps I should replace that word "satisfying", the film starts the titles "part one" so going in you know this film will not conclude its story. This can be frustrating as it is a 2hr 35 min movie (with trailers it was more like 3hrs in the theatre). I did feel similar to another epic Lawrence of Arabia that the film was too long. By the 2hr mark I felt like Dune had told its story well enough, it didn't need "extra". 

Lawrence of Arabia is a cinema classic, as are other epics I feel are too long like Ben Hur & Gone With the Wind, so perhaps it's just my patience for films end at the 2hr mark. I was quite flabbergasted when my cousin suggested that the film was too short. While Dune is quite a feat, it is incomplete, and thus expectations are quite high for the sequel. I sure hope Villeneuve gives this story a conclusion that this first half deserves.