Review - Dune (2021)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, this is surreal, but here we are. I just got home from seeing the new movie Dune, and I have quite a bit to say about the movie. Now, I'm going to do my best to avoid any spoilers, so here we go. Now, the story of the Dune novel is a very dense one, and this movie only covers about the first half of the book. Now, I'll do my best to describe it here. 

         So, the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV of House Corrino has sent an envoy to the planet Caladan to offer the Duke Leto Atreides the job of overseeing the spice mining operations on the harsh desert planet of Arrakis, taking operations away from the Duke's rival, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. So, the Duke, his concubine Lady Jessica, their son Paul, and the various members of House Atreides leave Caladan behind to set up shop on Arrakis, where the Duke hopes to make allies of the native tribe of warriors known as the Fremen. And that's as far as I am willing to go, because I don't want to give away any major plot details. 

          So, the first thing to note is that this movie is only part one. Director Denis Villeneuve made this choice deliberately, as the novel is so full of rich detail that it's almost impossible to cram it into a single movie. So, what we have now is part one, and Denis Villeneuve will be working on part two hopefully very soon. Another thing to note about the movie is the length, which some may consider to be excessive. However, the runtime is filled to the brim with rich, gorgeous detail and scenery that is simply awe inspiring. So, it may run a bit too long for some, but it's definitely worth it. 

          The entire cast of this movie is definitely too notch, but I'd definitely like to give major kudos to both Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya, who are both excellent in the roles of Paul Atreides and Chani. Now, I also enjoyed both Oscar Isaac and Rebecca Ferguson as Paul's parents Leto and Jessica. Both are definitely excellent here, and I definitely think they were great additions to the film. But my favorite performances come from actors Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, and Javier Bardem as Stilgar. Now, on the villain's side, we have Stellan Skarsgard as Baron Harkonnen and Dave Bautista as his nephew Glossu Rabban. Both are grotesque and intimidating, but don't get much in terms of screentime. The Baron's vizier Pietr de Vries, played by David Dastmalchian, gets quite a bit of screentime, and is definitely serviceable. The rest of the cast, including Charlotte Rampling and Sharon Duncan-Brewster, were great as well. 

       Now, as a sci-fi fan, I have to say that the spaceship designs were incredible, especially the dragonfly-esque Ornithopters. I also was in awe at the scale, size, and look of the massive sand worms of the planet Arrakis. However, the big takeaway is the music score. Composer Hans Zimmer is definitely at his best here, and it's definitely easy to tell that this movie was a passion project for him. Seriously, if the movie had a different composer, it wouldn't be the same. 

        All in all, I can't recommend Dune enough. If you are able to see this movie on the big screen, I highly encourage doing so. Other than that, it's available on HBO Max as well, so you have the option to watch from home as well. But, this is one that needs to be seen on as big a screen as possible. I'm giving Dune a rating of 5/5. This movie is pure sci-fi beauty at it's finest, and it needs to be seen. 

       This is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time.