Director: Denis Villeneuve
Actors: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya
Genre: Sci-Fi / Action
Rating: M
‘Dune’ (or Dune: Part One) is the best attempt so far at
translating the books into film, from my recollections of the 1984 & 2000
versions. The first act lays out the landscape and epic scope – Leto Atreides (Isaac)
as the Duke/ruler of a powerful planet/army, his partner Jessica (Ferguson) and
their son Paul (Chalamet). They’re sent to the desert planet of Arrakis to mine
spice, which sets off a chain of intergalactic events, between the Atreides,
the Fremin, the Emperor, the Harkonnen and the Bebe Gesserit (don’t worry – it’ll
make sense by the end. Or it wont!)
Pretty star-heavy cast, with everyone getting some screentime
during the 2.5 hours – Chani (Zendaya) and Stilgar (Bardem) as two of the
indigenous desert-dwelling Fremin, the grotesque Baron (Skarsgard), the Duke’s
right-hand-man Gurney (Brolin), fun-soldier-guy Duncan (Momoa), bad-bald-guy
Rabban (Bautista) and Dr Kynes (Duncan-Brewster). The most disconcerting thing
of the film is that Paul’s mum is only 12 years older than him in real life!
The film throws in a fair bit of mythology/prophecy and universe-building, but
not too much to overwhelm. The dragonfly helicopter/planes are particularly cool!
The score and use of drums is great, adding lots of momentum and
while it always feels like this is setting up for the next film(s), it’s still
an enjoyable journey following Paul (from real-world Norway to Jordan & the
UAE) and seeing his character grow as he tries to figure out how his visions
might fit his world and the galaxy. Will expect slightly more from the sequel!
Overall: Well-executed sci-fi tale
Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.
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