.png){kind=logo}
★★★☆☆
Dune 2021 is a film that excels on the surface. From the visionary mind behind recent Sci-Fi masterpieces such as Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, Villeneuve's adaptation of the 1968 classic Frank Herbert novel is, at times, breathtaking.
It’s the type of science fiction experience genre fans are always hopeful of seeing whenever they turn up at the pictures. Beautiful, lingering shots of alien vistas, genuinely badass far-flung technologies and spacecrafts, and a universe rich with interesting lore, cultures, races, and locations. It’s the sort of world you see for the first time and think “how the hell has somebody conceived of all this?” Visually, Dune 2021 is a work of art. The desert planet of Arrakis is brought to life beautifully, with shifting sands and barren terrains that suggest danger around every corner. Christopher Nolan commented that Dune is:
“one of the most seamless marriages of live-action and computer-generated visual effects that [he’s] ever seen”.
In English for those of us that aren’t award-winning film directors; the visuals of Dune slap.
The costume design, from the desert-dwelling Fremen, to the creepy denizens of House Harkonnen, is always striking and interesting. Hans Zimmer’s score brings with it an ambience and depth that adds a great sense of scale to the world, whilst also enhancing the many different cultures of the Dune universe. The film also boasts an impressive ensemble cast of Hollywood star power and Villeneuve character actors, with no one performance dipping below capable and engaging.
To make a long story short, from a technical perspective Dune 2021 is an undeniable success; a gorgeous looking film accompanied by a solid cast and score. Where Dune falls short for me personally is in the characters, the story, and the pacing. When I mentioned previously that Dune 2021 is a film that excels on the surface, this was in reference to a near-plodding narrative that is riddled with tired tropes, flat characters, and almost too much room to breathe amongst the “Dunes” (sorry).
A film with this much universe to explore and explain is bound to have lore dumps and exposition; and to its credit, Dune 2021 handles most of these sections in a way that respects the audience's time and intelligence. Learning about this universe as a viewer unfamiliar with the books was an occasionally clumsy but mostly enjoyable experience. But this is a difficult balancing act, and by the end of the film, it felt that characterisation had been sacrificed for scale and spectacle. The monolithic, angular, expansive set pieces of Dune are beautiful to look at, but when the story beats are this predictable, the beauty of the world rings hollow. It felt almost as though visiting a Frank Herbert-themed Westworld or playset, marvelling at the sights but wanting more from the narrative itself.
These characters are capably performed but lack dimension and are disappointingly flat; there are no quirks or surprises to be found in any of them. Chalamet’s Paul Atreides is a very watchable protagonist and treads a fine line between cliché space-Jesus and sympathetic outsider. However, many of these characters, in my opinion, slip into easy archetypes. Jason Mamoa’s Duncan is one of those loveable rogue types that could have been ripped straight from a Marvel film- but with even less depth. Oscar Isaac’s Leto Atreides is the well-meaning, morally righteous, and ultimately bland leader of his people. Josh Brolin’s Gurney is a formulaic, stern, and stoic loyal foot soldier. Stellan Skarsgard’s villainous Baron is exactly what you would expect him to be in this kind of story, a scenery-chewing, amorphous blob of a sci-fi fantasy villain.
The relationships between all of these people, and the stories that drive them, are just as flat as the characters themselves. These people all interact with each other, they have clearly established relationships that are insisted upon us by the story, but I found there to be no spark of warmth to any of these moments. I found Dune to be a very cold film in this regard.
The longer I spent in the world of Dune, the more apathy I felt for its residents. The more perilous the situation became for every one of these characters, the less I cared. By the time the third act had rolled around, I found myself struggling to engage with anything the film was trying to do. That’s not to say that these characters are bad, or that the story is bad. The story being told here is just very familiar, and while dressed up in Herbert’s wonderfully insane special sauce of lore, expected. Those familiar with the books, however, will know that the inevitable Part 2 will be heading into some incredibly weird and interesting areas.
Which brings us to a more unique point regarding the success of Dune 2021. The film does not hide that it's an exercise in setup, and there are plenty of hints at the future direction this story will take. I would not be surprised at all if my opinion of this film changes considerably with the release of Part 2 (or even an extended cut). This wouldn’t necessarily excuse the issues I have with Dune’s characterisation, but I could definitely forgive them.
Because with all these points in mind, I would absolutely recommend checking Dune out. You are unlikely to see a better looking film this year, and I would argue the sights and sounds of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune are some of the very best ever offered by the Sci-Fi genre. For fans of the books especially, you can tell that Villeneuve has approached this world with a great amount of care, reverence, and appreciation. Dune is a film that I really wanted to love, but ultimately, it played a long game that left me in the dust.
Comments