One of the most anticipated movies of the year, “Dune,” was released on October 22nd. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, director of “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049,” “Dune” is a cinematic masterpiece that truly has the potential to be the best movie of the year.
For those unfamiliar with “Dune,” it is a film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel of the same name, which can be best described as a sort of galactic “Game of Thrones.” “Dune”’s story mainly deals with houses, alliances, backstabbing, and schemes, all in order to try to obtain the most powerful resources. The most important resource in the “Dune” universe is called spice. In “Dune,” spice is a drug that grants people heightened abilities, extends lifespan, and even gives certain people the ability to see into the future. Several powerful groups, called houses, are in constant war and political conflict to try to gain control of the harvesting of this spice so that they can become strong and wealthy. However, this spice is only harvestable on one planet in the entire universe, planet Arrakis. This brings us to the main focus of the story: Paul Atreidis, played by Timothy Chalamet, the heir to the noble Atreides house that is fighting for control of planet Arrakis.
Many people were skeptical about the release of “Dune”, and for good reason. The “Dune” books are filled with so much lore, backstory, and information that many thought a film like this would be hard to translate to the big screen. Furthermore, past film adaptations of the “Dune” books, like David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation and the “Dune” television series that aired in 2000, did not live up to expectations according to reviews. However, unlike the previous adaptation, I think Villeneuve’s adaptation truly lived up to the hype. Although there is so much backstory for the audience to understand, Villeneuve does a great job of making the information digestible for someone like me, who has never read the books or seen the previous adaptations.
Villeneuve, as expected, consistently blows you out of the water with incredible directing in “Dune”. With stunning visuals, magnificent set pieces, and amazing production design, the movie feels like a living, tangible world. With that being said, this movie is definitely not something you should not watch on your tiny, little cellphone. Instead, you should watch the film in an IMAX theatre, because the visuals are so spectacular that it would be an injustice to yourself if you watched it on anything other than the biggest screen you can find.
In addition, the acting in this film was stellar. Timothy Chalamet was excellent, and this might be my favorite performance of his yet. I also loved Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, and Josh Brolin, who all played key roles in the movie. Stellan Skarsgard steals the scene every time he is shown. He truly portrays a menacing character and antagonist. To the disappointment of many fans, however, Zendaya primarily exists as a vision that Chalamet’s character is having and plays a limited role in the movie. Across the board, the acting cast for “Dune” was stacked and had great performances as expected.
Once again, Hans Zimmer outdoes himself in his creation of the film’s score. He creates a soundtrack that sounds incredibly unique, compliments the spectacular visuals of the movie very well, and gives the audience chills throughout the movie.
This movie is genuinely masterful. That being said, it is incomplete. The movie is only part one of a two part series. Thus, the movie ends with a massive cliffhanger and some people may be disappointed with that. Once part 2 does come out, however, this series has the potential to become one of the greatest movie series of all time and I recommend you watch it as soon as you can.