OnScreen Review: "Dune"
Ken Jones, Chief Film Critic
There are a lot of way that people are coming to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. I have not read any of the series written by Frank Herbert. I have seen David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation, but I found it a convoluted mess and I am not a fan of Lynch in general. I did not see the Sci-Fi Channel’s 2000 miniseries. So I was very pleased that one of my favorite directors, Villeneuve, was taking an ambitious stab at this beloved, foundational sci-fi story. As Lynch is my only point of comparison, I found Villeneuve’s adaptation far more coherent and easier to follow with clearer themes emerging. This is an epic tale of empire, warring houses, political power struggles, and destiny.
Sci-fi tales set in outer space with a galactic empire of any kind need to have a certain bigness to them as the vastness of space is itself a significant backdrop. I am a sucked for movies that tell their stories on a grand scale. Villeneuve is no stranger to this, having previously done Arrival and Blade Runner: 2049. Dune is orders of magnitude bigger, with the story unfolding on several planets, mainly the desert planet of Arrakis, but also Caladan and Giedi Prime, home of House Atreides and House Harkonnen, respectively. The conflict between these wealthy families, hostile to one another, is what drives most of the plot; House Atreides takes over the mining of spice on Arrakis from House Harkonnen by order of the (unseen) emperor. These three planets are distinct as environments, with both Caladan and Giedi Prime standing in stark contrast to the harsh environment of Arrakis. The use of Houses is orienting and useful, much like how it was for Westeros in Game of Thrones.
Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) is the protagonist, the son of Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) and his concubine Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). Paul has had visions in his dreams of Arrakis, where his family will soon be traveling. Some of these visions involve people he knows, like his friend Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa). Others are of people he has never met, glimpses of objects, or moments. But most of them are about a girl, Chani (Zendaya), a member of the Fremen, natives of the desert planet who share the sand with giant worms. And not all of his visions are accurate or reliable. It turns out that Paul is more than just the heir of House Atreides, he also has a very important lineage on his mother’s side, as she was part of this mystical group of women known as the Bene Gesserit, a group of mystical women who have been shaping the course of history from the shadows. All of this makes Paul a potentially a figure of destiny, something he never chose for himself. House Atreides is quick besieged by political posturing, sabotage from House Harkonnen, economic pressure, and betrayal, setting Paul off on a journey to discover his purpose and his own way forward.
Like many of his recent film, Villeneuve’s Dune is a sight to behold. Each planet is distinct, the scale is epic, and the CGI blends seamlessly with the real to make this feel like a fully realized and lived in world. There is also a grace and elegance to so much of the visual aesthetic of the film, whether it be the way Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) floats through the air, the insect-like aircrafts they fly on Arrakis, or the way a sandworm glides through the desert. In a moment of siege, fighters drop out of a ship above and float down, almost silently to the ground below to outflank soldiers. There are a raft of these beautiful little touches.
Of course, all of the window dressing in the world doesn’t matter much if the story at the center of it all is not any good. That is not a problem here. With a grand, epic sci-fi or fantasy story, it is vital to be able to tell an intimate, personal story within that grand scale of a stage. Paul is a messiah figure, and has definite shades of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey alive and well in his story. His relationship with his father is strong. His mother is attempting to train him in better using “The Voice” a Bene Gesserit form of mind control. The possibility of being a messiah figure and being put in a position by his mother and the Bene Gesserit that he did not ask for is ill-fitting for him.
Chalamet gives a very strong performance as Paul. Though they were both roughly the same age when filming, Chalamet seems more suited to the role than Kyle MacLachlan was; Paul comes across much more as a boy becoming a man and growing into a role than I recall from MacLachlan’s performance. Terrific performances all around from the cast, everyone fits their roles well. While Zendaya plays a big role in the marketing of this movie, she has a minor role overall as Chani, mostly appearing in Paul’s visions until near the end of the film. Rebecca Ferguson has a bigger and more important role as Lady Jessica. Stellan Skarsgård gives a much more nuances and quietly menacing performance as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen than his predecessor did in Lynch’s adaptation. And no one picked up the codpiece mantle from Sting, but Dave Bautista has a small role as Beast Rabban Harkonnen that hints at being more later on down the road.
Speaking of later on down the road, it should be noted that this film is clear and up front about not being the entire novel of Dune. In fact, “Part One” is in the opening title. The studio is taking a similar approach that it did with Stephen King’s It a few years ago. While this is a smart approach because it seems like it is a dense and rich source material, the place they choose to break the story at is an odd one, feeling rather anti-climactic and an odd not to end on.
Also, to be clear, this is not a dumbed down version of the story. Villeneuve does not hold your hand through this film. There are plenty of aspects of the film where things are not spelled out in completely plain language but most of it, like the Bene Gesserit, crysknives, mentats, and shield fighting, should be able to be picked up easily enough for most viewers through character dialogue or through scenes like a training session between Paul and Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin).
There were doubts about Denis Villeneuve making a sequel to Blade Runner. Then there were more skeptics when Villeneuve announced he was going to tackle Dune as his next project. It is time to stop questioning this man what he is capable of. Knowing that this is a two-part project, the first part is nothing short of a rousing success. This adaptation is a vast improvement over the 1984 version made by David Lynch. It is easy to follow, it is a compelling story, and it leaves you wanting more out of Part Two when it arrives in a few years. Mission accomplished.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Dune is currently in theaters and streaming on HBO Max until Nov. 22