Dune (2021)
Synopsis
Frank Herbert’s landmark 1965 sci-fi novel receives its second film adaptation in Dune (2021). The story is set thousands of years in the future and follows Paul (Timothée Chalamet), whose father, Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) of House Atreides, has been given control of the desert planet Arrakis by the emperor. Arrakis is home to the valuable substance spice, an imperial economic staple that Duke Leto will now oversee the harvesting of and enables space travel and supernatural abilities; the Fremen, a mysterious and fierce people who are able to survive in the desert using their water-preserving stillsuits; and giant worms which roam the desert and devour near anything that makes a sound. Paul has also begun having visions about the planet, which has sparked the concerns of his mother and member of the mysterious Bene Gesserit sisterhood, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). However, Arrakis may prove to be House Atreides’ death bed as the sadistic Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) of House Harkonnen sets his plan in motion to eliminate the rival house in one fell swoop.
Analysis
One aspect of the film I really enjoyed was how epic it felt. Focusing first on the small scale, the movie’s character design is fantastic. The amount of attention paid to costumes makes them feel authentic, functional, and like a nice mix of familiar and alien. Each group’s (e.g., Atreides, Harkonnen, Fremen) attire is unique enough to make them aesthetically pleasing and easy to pick out in any given scene. And the character whose design stuck out to me the most was hands down the Baron Harkonnen: seeing his grotesque shape either soaking in a vat of oil or hovering over the ground and shrouded in a black cloak is like watching evil personified. A combination of great practical and special effects makes each scene feel grounded yet fantastical at the same time. This good balance prevented any scene from either feeling excessively plain or so overloaded with CGI as to make the world feel fake. Lastly, the sheer scale of this movie is why it demands to be seen on the big screen. You’ll find yourself marveling at images like the unique and sweeping landscapes of various planets, massive starships traveling through space and the skies, and enormous sandworms that take up almost the entire screen. The gigantic battle that occurs near the halfway point likewise is an amazing display of spectacle. Thus, the movie’s impressive visuals sold me on the idea that I legitimately was watching a legendary sci-fi story unfold.
I also appreciated how the film retained almost all of the book’s – the first half that is – essential plot elements. For one, I thought it was brave of both Villeneuve and Legendary Pictures to do this given how dense the book’s lore is. Important topics that require explanation include the political state of the empire, the machinations of the Bene Gesserit order and their plot to birth the Kwisatz Haderach, the Arrakin myth of the Muad’Dib, and the power of spice, just to name a few. Not only does the movie address these concepts, but it also does an excellent job of naturally incorporating them into the plot so that each element feels necessary. This clearly demonstrated how the movie was unapologetic of its source material and was committed to telling an “atypical” sci-fi story. Secondly, I believe that the film would’ve been a substantially watered-down version of the novel had it chosen to leave out key plot elements. The various intersections of politics, myth/religion, and environment presented in the book ultimately drive the plot forward. Remove one element like the Bene Gesserit, for instance, and you miss out on the political influence of the order on the empire and the impact their plotting has had on the minds of the Fremen. I also think that being overly eager to cut out “extraneous” details would’ve made the movie feel a bit tame given how many groundbreaking sci-fi films (e.g., Star Wars, Alien, and Blade Runner) have borrowed certain elements from the book. So in trying to deliver a unique and incredibly layered story, keeping the book’s key points was undoubtedly the way to go.
Although I enjoyed how faithful the movie was to the book, certain aspects didn’t translate well to the big screen. For instance, the film not only presents almost all of the dialogue as is written, but it also preserves the occasionally annoying manner in which characters speak. This means that the movie’s dialogue is filled with exposition and sci-fi mumbo jumbo, most characters speak in a sedated and monotone voice, and Paul and his mother basically speak in whispers alone. In addition to making some discussions feel long, dull, and complicated, this decision also took me out of the movie at times because I couldn’t buy into the idea that I was watching real people interact. That’s why the characters felt more relatable when the actors’ lines deviated from the book’s and featured actual emotion. Secondly, the movie honestly feels its length in the first half by being filled with setup. So many concepts have to be explained and so many pieces put in place that you’re essentially learning about rather than experiencing the story. This is conversely why the second half flows smoother: you’re progressing through the plot in the same way the characters are. The film would’ve had a better sense of realism and flow if it had taken liberties with dialogue and plot structure. I don’t think this would be an easy fix, though, given how the more changes you make in these areas, the less your movie feels like Dune.
And while the film’s cinematography and sound design are great, something still felt off about these technical elements. There are various instances where the movie loses its cinematic feel, and a couple of action sequences are shot at odd angles and/or include many quick cuts. The former makes the movie at times look like an HBO-esque show, while the latter reduces your sense of immersion by making action scenes feel awkward and disjointed. As for sound design, the score tends to drown out everything that’s going on, and in fights no strike or blow sounds particularly lethal. The overbearing score thus makes it challenging to pick out what someone’s saying or environmental sounds, and close-quarter fights feel mediocre by not having effective sound to grab the viewer. I therefore would’ve had a much more sustained sense of immersion had the movie made some minor tweaks in these areas.
Conclusion
To wrap it all up, Dune is a spectacular cinematic sci-fi journey to embark on. It feels like the first entry of an epic saga based on both its stellar visual style and respect for its incredible source material. While a few plot and technical elements occasionally reduced my sense of immersion, they weren’t so glaring as to take away my enjoyment of the pure spectacle of it all. Here’s hoping that enough people catch it in theaters to greenlight what’s sure to be an enjoyably insane part 2. And if you’re not planning to watch this movie on the big screen, you may as well not watch it at all.